The track and field teams headed to Cambridge this weekend to face off against archrival Harvard. While the Crimson won overall, the Elis had many top-three finishes and multiple athletes broke personal records.
“It was awesome to have so many people P.R. in a meet against some of our toughest competition,” Renee Vogel ’16 said.
After a few races without any top-three finishes, Kelsey Lin ’14 took third in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.50, less than one second behind the first-place finisher from Harvard. Shannon McDonnell ’16, Frances Schmiede ’17 and Grace Brittan ’16 took second, third and fourth, respectively, in the 800-meter run, while Elizabeth McDonald ’16 showed her skill in the 3000-meter run, taking first with a time of 10:00.14.
The Yale field competitors stayed close with Harvard, starting with first- and second-place finishes by Emily Urciuoli ’14 and Vogel in the pole vault. Amanda Snajder ’14 and Megan Toon ’16 took second and third in the javelin throw, while Karleh Wilson ’16, Kate Simon ’17 and Taylor Eldridge ’16 took second, third and fourth, respectively, in the discus throw.
The same three girls competed in the hammer throw — Eldridge ended in second, Wilson in third and Simon in fourth. Snajder showed her long-jump abilities by taking first with a distance of 5.52 meters. Alisha Jordan ’15 took second, just 0.11 meters behind, but later took first in the triple jump with a distance of 11.92 meters. Kristen Proe ’14 competed in the triple jump as well, finishing third. Wilson rounded out the field events with another strong second-place performance in the shot put.
“We were all very proud to wear the ‘Y’ on Saturday, and I think it showed,” Urciuoli said.
In the first track event for the men, the 3000-meter steeplechase, Duncan Tomlin ’16 was the only male athlete from either team to compete, bringing in Yale’s first victory of the day and gaining points for the Bulldogs. James Randon ’17 then took third in the 1500-meter run, followed by Daniel Kemp ’15 who took third as well in the 110-meter hurdles. More third-place finishes followed, one from Chandler Crusan ’17 in the 400-meter dash and another in the 100-meter dash by Daniel Jones ’14.
The Bulldogs finished the 800-meter run in top form, with James Shrivell ’14 taking first with a time of 1:52.43. William Rowe ’15 then finished second in the 400-meter hurdles, blowing away the third place Harvard finisher by four seconds. In a photo finish in the 100-meter dash, Jones finished in second place, less than 0.3 seconds behind Harvard’s Damani Wilson. Yale continued to show its strength in the long-distance runs with freshman Andre Ivankovic ’17 taking first in the 3000-meter run. In the field events, Harvard dominated for the men until Torren Peebles ’17 took third in the javelin throw.
Ivankovic said that he ran a personal best in the 3000-meter race, with a time of 8:27.34. He said his record run boosted his confidence about his fitness and racing abilities.
The Bulldogs compete in their first home event since February this weekend at the Dewitt Cuyler Athletic Complex for the Yale Mark Young Invitational. The Elis look forward to being at home after such a long break, added Vogel.
“Performing at home is always an advantage. Our legs don’t get stiff from the traveling and we can do our normal routine. We also get to have Yale friends come out to support and watch,” Vogel said.
Competition begins for the men and women on Saturday, April 19.