In the first scored meet of the season, the annual tri-meet against Dartmouth and Columbia, both the men’s and women’s track and field teams placed second.
Amidst many strong performances, including a number of freshmen who broke their personal records, the men’s team fell to Dartmouth by 25 points and the women’s team lost to Columbia by 12.
Saturday’s race was the first meet of the indoor track and field season against other Ivy League teams. With the addition of scoring, Elizabeth Marvin ’13 said there was more pressure going into the race.
“You’re not just running for yourself, you’re running for the team,” she said.
On the men’s side, Evans won the 200-meter dash with a time of 21.87 seconds, the fastest time in the Ivy League this season and Yale’s second-fastest indoor mark of all-time. He also completed the 400-meter dash in 49.49, placing second behind fellow Eli Matt Bieszard ’12, who finished in 49.28; both performances were among the top five in the Ivy League this season.
The Bulldogs also dominated several field events. Dana Lindberg ’14 and Tom Winger ’13 placed first and second, respectively, in the long jump (6.57 m and 6.42 m); Yifan Chen ’12 and Samba Binagi ’11 placed first and second in the triple jump (13.34 m and 13.04 m); and David Smith ’11 and Stefan Palios ’14 earned second and fourth in the shot put (14.95 m and 14.34 m).
Other strong performances included James Shirvell ’14, who won the 800 meter; Daniel Jones ’14, who came in second in the 60 meters; Christopher Ramsey ’13, who earned second place in his first stab at the 500 meters; and Conor Dooney ’13, who placed third in the mile. In addition, both relay teams came in second.
The biggest gaps were found in the distance sector, with Bulldogs earning no points in the 1000 and 3000 meter races.
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“The longer distances are still building back up after cross country,” Ramsey said. “Not everyone is competing at their highest level yet.”
The Bulldogs did not race anyone in three events: 60-meter hurdles, high jump and pole vault. Ramsey cited the small size of Yale’s team as a disadvantage against the Dartmouth victors.
“[A small team] means that there is not a lot of room for error,” Ramsey said. “We need everyone who’s competing to do the best they possibly can.”
Evans said that the small-team dynamic came in part from recruiting issues. The team was currently in a “gap year,” as their hurdler — Ted Galligan ’10 — graduated last year.
“We can’t take any days off, we have to give it 100 percent every single race, and we have to make our individual efforts count,” Evans said. “If you’re a small team, you have to be a good team.”
For the women’s team, this year’s race was an improvement over last year’s. While in 2010, the Bulldogs lost to Columbia by 21 points, this year they narrowed the gap to 12.
“[The meet] was the first big gauge of where we’re at,” Grace said. “It is harder to get a direct understanding from an invitational.”
Yale started off the meet sweeping the 60-meter dash. Adele Jackson-Gibson ’13, Alexa Monti ’12, and Emily Shulan ’12 placed first, second and third, respectively (7.88. 8.09, and 8.22). This was just the first out of a series of wins for the Bulldogs; Elis won five out of the eight individual running races.
Grace won the 800 meter and mile, in 2:11.88 and 4:54.85 respectively. Both times qualify her for the ECAC Championship meet in early March.
Other impressive performances include Jenna Hessert ’14, who won the 500 meters; Nihal Kayali ’13, who won the 1000 meters, proving her recovery from last year’s injury; Sarah Barry ’14, who placed third in the mile; the duo of Elizabeth Marvin ’13 and Melissa Chapman ’14, who scored second and third in the 3000 meters; and Stephanie Scaramella ’11, who placed second in the weight throw and third in shot put.
“Overall, people were really going a good job,” Marvin said. “We gave Columbia a run for its money.”
The race, which took place at the Armory Track and Field Center in New York, was particularly important because it is the site where the indoor track and field championships will be held.
“We have to sharpen the small, technical skills, get better at the little things,” Evans said. “We have to focus on staying healthy and training hard, and on getting good performances that will help us later in the season.”
After the meet, men’s captain Marty Evans ’11 and Kate Grace ’11 were named male and female athlete of the week by Hepstrack.com, a site that monitors Ivy League track and field performances.
The women’s team will next race at Boston’s Husky Invitational. The men’s team will next race at the Boston University Terrier Invitational, at which no other Ivies will be competing.