The men’s indoor track team got off to a slow start at its Feb. 8 meet against Army and Cornell and never recovered.

Yale could only muster seven points in its first three events, finishing last in two of the finals. The Bulldogs finished last overall in the meet and are hoping they can regroup this weekend for what should be an exciting competition against Harvard.

Cornell, with an enormous squad, won the West Point meet. Yale only placed second or higher in five of 18 events. The Elis only netted more points than the Black Knights and the Big Red in three events. Two of those high points were the first-place finishes of the 3,200 meter relay team and Robert Dwyer ’04 in the 3000 meter race.

Anthony Thomas’ ’03 11 points were the most of any Bulldog.

The competition was scored in a different manner than most meets. Army allowed only two athletes from each squad to score in a given event.

Jihad Beauchman ’06 said the scoring favored Yale because Cornell and Army have large teams. In many events Cornell and Army athletes who placed in the top six (the scoring positions) were not given points because they were the third-place finisher on their squad and therefore ineligible for scoring.

Beauchman scored 7.5 points for the Elis, taking third outright in the triple jump and tying for third in the high jump.

“I felt I could have gone a little higher,” Beauchman said.

Thomas, who is still recovering from a stress injury to both of his patellae, said he has not been able to train as thoroughly as he would normally. He competed in three events, taking second in long jump.

Thomas said he thought the jumpers fared best at the meet and should continue their success next weekend against Harvard.

“Harvard’s a good team; they have a lot of fast guys,” Thomas said. “We’ll be ready for them in jumps.”

Jordan Chapman ’05 competed in the pole vault and high jump. Earning nine points for the team, his performance was another high point for the Bulldogs. Chapman said he was satisfied with his performance but looks forward to this weekend.

“Our coaches started tapering the workouts this week so we can really come out against Harvard,” Chapman said. “I’m pretty sure at the end of the week we’re going to have a team meeting that’s more intense than last week — I know we can take Harvard.”

Robert deLaski ’06 scored eight points individually and led off in the 1,600 meter relay. Cornell’s large squad, deLaski said, did not overwhelm him.

“With the start [in a relay race] your time’s a little slow because you start from a stand-still instead of a baton pass,” deLaski said. “I expected to run better. These aren’t my best times this year or in high school.”