The Yale track teams traveled to Hanover, N.H., this weekend to compete against Ivy League foes Dartmouth and Columbia. The men’s team finished first, edging out Dartmouth by one point, while the women’s team came in second behind the Big Green.

Eli runners and coaches said they were very pleased with their results.

“In all honesty, this past weekend ranks as one of the most successful and enjoyable overall team performances I’ve endured in my career here at Yale,” said captain Donald Carson ’02.

Yale finished with a team total of 69.50, just ahead of Dartmouth’s 68.50 and easily better than Columbia’s 40 points.

The Bulldog men won six events at the meet. On the track, Carson won the 500-meter run with a time of 1:05.12, Anthony Thomas ’03 won the 200m dash in 22.53 seconds, and the 4×800 meter relay team won with a time of 7:59.65.

Demonstrating the team’s depth in field events, Allen Czerwinski ’03 won the weight throw with a 14.83 meter toss, Nathan Lawrie ’04 won the shot put with a 15.23 meter throw, Adam Petrillo ’02 won the pole vault with 4.42m,

“It was a very good team effort. We did well across the board,” coach David Shoehalter said. “It was a real change from last year when our scoring was dominated by a couple of guys. We did well in a lot of events, and that’s what you have to do to win meets like this.”

Several Eli freshmen contributed to the men’s team victory.

“We had a lot of younger guys step up and perform really well,” Czerwinski said. “Guys like Jordan Chapman ’05 and Michael Gray ’05. We won by one point and those guys’ performances really made a difference.”

The Yale women finished with a total of 51 points, in between Dartmouth’s 77 and Columbia’s 49.

Captain Jessica Thomas ’02 also said that the freshmen were key in Yale’s success at the meet.

“I felt like the women really came together as a team in some important areas with the freshmen really contributing to the energy level” Thomas said. “Candace Arthur ’05 had a great day on the track, tripling in the 60m and 200m dash and running a strong leg on the 4×400 m relay.”

Women’s coach Mark Young also gave sprinters special commendation, citing Arthur, who finished first in the 200 meter with a time of 25.96 and second in the 60 meter, and Sikira Backus ’02, who finished first in the 60 meter in 7.96 seconds.

“It’s an early season event, and I think we showed solid progress from the week before,” Young said.

Kate O’Neill ’03 dominated the field in the 3000 meter, while Anika Kreider ’03 also earned first place points for the team with her 400-meter run. Yale’s 4×400 took first with a time of 3:59.55.

This weekend the Bulldogs will travel to Boston to compete in the Huskie Invitational and Terrier Classic.

“The Boston meet will be a good marker of our tenacity and unity as a team,” Thomas said.