After a two-week hiatus, both the men’s and women’s track teams were back in action this weekend for their first full team outdoor competition of the season.

The Bulldogs competed at the University of Connecticut Invitational this weekend, and the women’s team ran an additional meet, the Raleigh Relays at North Carolina State University. The women’s team took home 17 medals for the weekend and the men picked up seven.

“It was my first time I’ve run the 1500, so I didn’t really know what to expect, but I stuck with the pack and then just tied to push through that last 400 [meters],” said Annelies Gamble ’13, who finished in fifth place in the 1500-meter run just behind Nihal Kayali ’13, who placed third.

The two runners matched their success Saturday, when Gamble placed eighth and Kayali 12th in the 800-meter run. Eli runners also fared well in the 10,000-meter run. For that event, Lindsey Raymond ’12 led the Bulldog pack in fifth place. (Raymond is a former city editor for the News.)

While these runners competed in Raleigh, the rest of the women’s track team competed at the University of Connecticut Invitational, where they were earned 16 medals, including five first place finishes.

Emily Urciuoli ’14 cleared 3.60 meters to win the pole vault. Adele Jackson-Gibson ’13 next won the 100-meter dash by .02 seconds, just beating out captain Alexa Monti ’12. Jackson-Gibson also placed second in the long jump.

The flow of gold medals continued with Sarah Barry ’14 who won her race, the 800-meter dash, by .02 seconds. Allison Rue ’13 was a close third in this race, with Melissa Chapman ’14 in fourth. Chapman had taken the 1500-meter run earlier in the day for Yale’s fourth gold medal.

In the 4 x 100-meter relay, the Bulldogs edged out eight other venerable squads to earn their fifth and final first place finish.

Dakota McCoy ’13 was second in the 400-meter hurdles, followed closely by Jenna Poggi ’13 in third.

“I was happy with my performance in the hurdles,” McCoy said. “I felt strong, and the final result was a really good starting point for the outdoor season.”

The men’s team was able to pick up seven medals, including three golds at the UConn Invitational.

Captain Matthew Bieszard ’12 ran to a first place finish in the 200-meter dash. Timothy Hillas ’13 matched Bieszard with a gold medal in the 1500-meter run. Sam Kirtner ’13, John McGowan ’15 and Jacob Sandry ’15, took second through fifth places in the 1500-meter as well.

“Anytime Yale grabs the top three spots in a race it’s a good day,” Hillas said. “If we carry this momentum through to next weekend and compete like we did on Saturday, it’ll be hard to be disappointed.”

The last gold went to the men’s All-East 4 x 400-meter relay team of Bieszard, William Rowe ’15, Mario Kranjac ’15, and Dylan Hurley ’15 who finished the race with a time of 3:17.38.