Sam Rubin
Recent events have shown that Yale sports teams step up their game against schools in Boston. This weekend was no different for the men’s and women’s track teams.
The men started the day strong, outperforming expectations during the field events. However, it was on the track where the Bulldogs showed their true colors. Personal records were set across many events, but Marcus Woods ’23 stole the show as he set a new school record in the 200m dash. Woods was quick off the starting block and established a decisive lead early on. He crossed the line after 21.37 seconds. This event was particularly notable, as four other Yale runners also finished in under 22 seconds. Even so, captain Kyle Macauley ’20 is focused on growing as a team.
“We all have room for improvement individually and that will be our focus as the season progresses,” Macauley said after the meet against Dartmouth. “Our competitive mentality is in a great spot as of now, but improving our consistency and race strategies will help us in the future.”
Allen Siegler ’20 and Will Laird ’21 both set personal records in the mile. Robert Miranda’s ’22 grit in the 3000m helped him finish in 8:10.657, his best time in the event. Although the Elis did not have as dramatic a day as they did against Dartmouth, the results showed their momentum. The team is continuing to improve and consistent performances are bound to yield positive results.
With the introduction of new events, the women’s team was faced with many challenges. Nevertheless, the athletes built upon their success from last week’s meet at Dartmouth.
“There were some great performances and some others that we weren’t as satisfied with,” Kayley DeLay ’21 said. “But it’s all fuel for fire. It is hard to say so early in the season how we stand in the Ivy League.”
DeLay comfortably won the 800m, setting a new personal best in the event with a time of 2:11.94. Ariel Claxton ’21, Addison Coy ’21, Sophie Isom ’22 and Libby McMahon ’22 demonstrated their ability in the 4x400m relay; the sprinters finished third out of 30 teams.
In addition to these two events, there were many other positive results. There were many debuts for the season, such as Sarah Pillard ’21 and Nicole Dirks ’23. In the 1000m, Dirks’ first collegiate race, she finished with a time of 3:01.83.
“It’s still early in the season and our training thus far has been less speed-oriented, so it’s exciting that so many of the women ran either personal bests or near personal bests on Friday,” Dirks said. “Many of us raced in shorter distance events than our specialties, too. I’m confident we will only continue to improve as we gear towards bigger meets.”
The next track meet is this Friday, Jan. 31 at Harvard, and both teams will be eager to make a statement against their Ivy competitors.
Rehan Melwani | rehan.melwani@yale.edu