Musco Sports Photos
Both of Yale’s track and field teams built upon their past success in last weekend’s Harvard Elite meet, putting up solid numbers in every event.
Unlike their other competitions, this small meet was focused on field events. The 10 women participated in the weight throw, shot put, triple jump, high jump, long jump and pole vault. Emma Vasen ’22, finished ninth in both the weight throw and shot put, with distances of 15.99 meters and 13.46 meters, respectively. Teammate Alladia Patterson ’21 placed 12th in the shot put with a throw of 12.18 meters. In the pole vault, Erin Gerardo ’21 not only matched her previous personal best of 3.80 meters, but also attempted to set a new career best. Unfortunately, she came up just short.
“I felt good about my own performance this weekend!” Gerardo said. “For the last two weeks I have had very close attempts at a new PR and have been very consistent at clearing those higher bars in general. I am excited for the next few weeks to have more opportunities to hopefully clear that elusive PR bar and so this meet was a great confidence builder that I am almost there.”
Both Olivia Mooney ’20 and Abrianna Barrett ’23 cleared 1.55 meters in the high jump while Sydney Kunkler ’23 took 12th with a distance of 5.27 meters in the long jump. Meanwhile, Tessa Malone ’21 covered 11.28 meters in the triple jump, finishing in sixth place.
On the men’s side, Andrew Rochon ’21 and Jack Dunn ’22 put up solid results, matching expectations. With a toss of 14.99 meters, just shy of 50 feet, Rochon placed fourth in the shot put. Like Gerardo, he was close to setting a new personal record. He has been very consistent in recent meets, and as the second-best Ivy League athlete in his event, Rochon will be a great asset in future competitions.
“I think everybody welcomed [the meet] as a tune-up for [Harvard-Yale-Princeton] this coming weekend,” Rochon said. “I thought that my individual performance was solid and that I’m close to a big breakthrough in my events. The meet at Harvard definitely showed some promise for the championship portion of the season.”
In the weight throw, a highly competitive event last Friday, Dunn placed fifth with a throw of 16.00 meters. Rochon seized eighth place with a vicious throw of 15.85 meters. After all the athletes had finished, the results showed that the majority of the pack were all within a 0.5-meter range. Their hard work with coach Duke Taylor has paid off, as both Dunn and Rochon have significantly improved their distances since last year.
The Bulldogs are well into their season, and this meet was a great opportunity for the throwers and jumpers to get some extra competitive experience. It is clear that both teams are capable of scoring well, and this weekend served as a confidence booster.
“Overall it was a great opportunity for the jumpers and throwers to compete at a good indoor facility against tough competition,” Gerardo said. “Since we are about at the midway mark of our indoor season, it is really encouraging to see everyone fine-tuning different aspects of their particular event so that by the time we reach the peak of our season, we can be performing to the best of our ability.”
This coming Saturday, Feb. 8, the Bulldogs will compete at home against Ivy League rivals Harvard and Princeton.
Rehan Melwani | rehan.melwani@yale.edu