As the attention of the Yale campus turned toward Pittsburgh on Saturday to witness a burgeoning local rivalry on ice, the newest iteration of an ancient rivalry took place right on campus.
The men’s and women’s track and field teams hosted the Harvard Crimson in a dual meet this Saturday at home, though neither squad could come up with a win against their age-old rivals. The men’s team fell 97–64 to their counterparts from Cambridge, and the women’s team kept it slightly closer, losing 89–69.
“Obviously we’re never going to be quite satisfied by losing,” men’s team captain Tim Hillas ’13 said. “That having been said, it was really a very good meet for us. We had a bunch of guys perform very well.”
Hillas noted that Harvard took first place in 10 events compared to the Bulldogs’ nine victories, suggesting that Yale’s shortcomings were a question of depth rather than talent — an idea reiterated by women’s team captain Allison Rue ’13.
The Elis and Cantabs split victories in the four throwing events on the men’s side, with Bulldog Michael Levine ’13 taking the discus and hammer throw. The two teams also split victories in the jumping events, as Yale’s Dana Lindburg ’14 took the long jump and Brendan Sullivan ’16 won the pole vault. And while Yale took the 4x400m relay, Harvard won the 4x100m event — a race in which Yale did not field a team.
James Shirvell ’14 won the 800m by almost two seconds, the Bulldogs’ John McGowan ’15, Matt Nussbaum ’15 and Hillas swept the 1500m, and freshman Duncan Tomlin ’16 took the 3000m steeplechase by over four seconds in 9:29.29. The Elis struggled in the sprints, failing to capture a victory in any distance shorter than the 800m except for the 4x400m and the 400m hurdles, which William Rowe ’15 finished in 55.26 for the victory.
“Physically we’re where we need to be, but we haven’t collectively put together all the performances,” sprinter Daniel Jones ’14 said. “I know we’ll get there, but we’re running out of time. Overall, there was some good, some bad, but great efforts all around.”
While the men’s team won nine events to Harvard’s 10, the Eli women almost matched that effort, winning eight events to the Cantabs’ 11.
The Bulldogs’ struggles in the sprinting events extended to the women’s team. The squad managed to win only two events under 3000m. The Bulldogs finished one-two in the 400m hurdles, as Jenna Poggi ’13 won in 1:03.03 with teammate Dakota McCoy ’13 right behind in 1:06.34, but the Crimson did not field any runners. Yale also grabbed the 4x400m title by a little more than a second and a half in 3:53.57.
The team had more success in the distance and field events. Melissa Chapman ’14 and Elizabeth Martin ’13 swept the top two spots in the 3000m, and Isabel Amend ’16 won the 3000m steeplechase running unopposed. Another freshman, Karleh Wilson ’16, had particular success in the shot put, taking the event with a throw of 13.57m.
The Bulldogs performed especially well in the jumping events, taking victories in three of them. Emily Urciuoli ’14 won the pole vault and the team swept the top three spots in the long jump and triple jump. Alisha Jordan ’15, Teresa Parent ’14 and Amanda Snajder ’14 finished first, second and third, respectively, in the long jump, and Jordan, Parent and Kristen Proe ’14 did the same in the triple jump.
“There’s a clear sense of competition,” Rue said. “It’s cool to have [a dual meet] against Harvard because that’s been going on for so long.”
When the Bulldogs and Cantabs next compete, they will do so not as rivals, but as teammates. The men’s and women’s teams will both travel to Boston on Tuesday to compete as a joint team against their counterparts across the pond, Cambridge and Oxford, in another dual meet.