In this weekend’s Ivy League season opener against Dartmouth and Columbia, the Yale men’s track team delivered an outstanding performance, taking down the Big Green and the Lions with a total of 86 points for the day.

The meet, held in New Haven on Saturday, was the team’s third at home, and the Bulldogs were determined to use their momentum from the previous competitions to start the Ivy season with a bang.

“We weren’t necessarily aiming to get our times down, but just to win,” George Cook ’12 said. “We were happy that we were able to do that.”

The men owned all five sprinting events, which ultimately led them to 12 overall victories in the meet. Ted Galligan ’10, Brandon Giles ’09, Marty Evans ’11, Matthew Bieszard ’12 and David Soiles ’10 were the sprint winners. Both relays, one of which was comprised of all above runners except Giles, qualified for the IC4A Championships.

“We think there’s still a lot of room for improvement but it was definitely good to get this meet squared away,” Cook said.

The women’s meet also featured strong performances that led them to an overall victory over Dartmouth and Columbia as well. But perhaps more impressive than their final results was the Elis’ comeback to take down their competition by the end of the day.

“In the beginning of the meet, it didn’t look too good for us,” Emily Shulan ’12 said. “But everyone stepped up and worked really hard and our competitive side definitely came out.”

Yale women swept the 200- and the 60-meter dashes, with Alexa Monti ’12, Marieme Mbaye ’12, Becky Brown ’11 and Shulan securing the top four positions in the 60m dash. Stephanie Pearl ’10 landed a third place spot in the 1-mile race with 5:10.05. Captain Jen Lin ’09 came in fourth in the 60-meter hurdle and Stephany Reaves ’10 and Kate Grace ’11 won the 800-meter and the 1000-meter races, respectively.

In the past, the all-Ivy tri-meet has not proved to be a particularly strong showcase for the female Bulldogs, perhaps because it falls at the beginning of the New Year. But this time, the women were pleased by their success in racing down some tough competition.

“We went into this meet not knowing what we could get out of it, considering that last year we were in the bottom of the Ivies,” Gabriella Kelly ’12 said.

But there is no question that this weekend the Elis got what they have been working for since the beginning of the school year.

“Now we know that we have a great sprinting program,” Kelly said. “Everyone really wanted it.”

This weekend both men’s and women’s teams hope to continue their progress at the Boston University Terrier Invitational in Boston.

TAYLOR LASLEY