The women’s indoor track team saw some familiar faces this weekend in two separate meets in Boston.
Competing against some of the same teams they have faced in the last few weeks, on Friday the Bulldogs scored 79.33 points to place fourth out of 13 teams in the collegiate division of the Adidas Boston Indoor Games. Host Northeastern University barely won with 123.33 points, sneaking past a University of South Florida team that scored 123 points. The University of Connecticut took third with 122 points.
“[We] had a relatively good showing this weekend,” Katie Greene ’06 said. “We placed fourth when our distance runners weren’t even present to help us with points. It was mainly just a sprinter and middle distance runners meet for us.”
Greene was the Bulldogs’ only individual winner. She won the 800-meter run in a time of 2:16.24, a mere .05 seconds ahead of second place Diane Matthews of Albany. Greene said she started the race in the middle of the pack and used her speed to out-kick the leaders.
“When the third lap came, I knew I had to make some sort of a move, so I picked off a couple of girls ahead of me and moved into third place and just waited,” Greene said. “We entered the bell lap and were pretty much running three abreast. Coming around the last curve, I began my sprint and passed the first place runner with about 10 meters left.”
Joslyn Woodard ’06 and Katrina Castille ’07 took third and fourth respectively in the 55-meter dash, only .01 seconds apart. In the longer sprints, Jessica Pall ’07 scored in the 500-meter dash and Katie Dlesk ’07 finished third in the 400-meter dash in a time of 58.10 seconds.
“I was pretty happy with my race,” Dlesk said. “It was a pretty fast track, so I was hoping for a faster time.”
In the field events, second place finishes abounded for the Elis: Molly Lederman ’06 in the pole vault, with a height of 3.65 meters; Woodard in the long jump, with a leap of 5.97 meters; and Dionna Thomas ’06 in the triple jump, with a distance of 12.01 meters. Captain Lisa Wygant ’04 tied for second in the high jump after clearing a height of 1.63 meters.
Lederman is a copy staffer for the Yale Daily News.
Other members of the Yale squad saw friendly familiar faces at the Terrier Classic hosted by Boston University across town. Recent graduates and Nike-sponsored athletes Kate O’Neill ’03 and Laura O’Neill ’03 finished first and fifth respectively in the 3000-meter run.
While no current Bulldogs competed against the twins, Cara Kiernan ’07 did compete against other professional runners in her first-ever 5000-meter track race. Kiernan finished 11th in the fast heat.
“We went out really fast and I stuck with the group for a little bit and I sort of paid for it later,” Kiernan said.
Kim Smith of Providence won the race with a time of 15:18.54, the second fastest collegiate time ever. Kiernan finished the 25-lap race in a time of 17:14.95.
“In the end it’s good to go out and give your all and get your butt kicked,” Kiernan said. “It was a good experience.”
Katie McKinstry ’07, Alex Sawicki ’04 and Emily Vince ’06 all broke 18 minutes in the 5000-meter.
The Bulldogs got a pair of eighth-place finishes on the second day of the Terrier Classic: Woodard in the 200 in a time of 25.25, and Vanessa Mazandi ’05 in the 800 in a time of 2:14.91.
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