Courtesy of Yale Athletics

The women’s track and field team ran the extra mile this weekend with newsworthy conquests, including six personal bests and a school record in the 4×400-meter relay. The men’s squad also broke a Yale record in the mile race and captain Juma Sei ’22 secured a first-place finish in the 500-meter race.

This weekend, the women’s and men’s track and field teams made their way up to Boston to compete in Harvard’s Crimson Elite meet on Friday and Boston University’s Bruce Lehane Scarlet and White Invitational on Saturday. 

“After last week’s cancelation due to the storm here in Boston, it was great to finally have the chance to compete and see where we stand against some top-quality teams,” director of cross country and track and field David Shoehalter said.

On Friday at Harvard, only a few team members were sent to compete for the Blue and White. For the women’s team, captain Emma Vasen ’22 was a few inches off of her personal best on the shot put. She finished in eighth place with a toss of 54’2.5’’.

Libby McMahon ’22 ran a personal best of 7.65 seconds in the 60-meter dash preliminaries. She then repeated her time in the finals to earn an eighth place finish. Teammates Ava Thomas ’22 and Sophie Isom ’22 followed closely behind, finishing with times of 7.86 and 7.94 seconds, respectively.

Eileen Yang ’24 brought her best to the Crimson’s Gordon Indoor Track as she finished in third place in the pole vault with an impressive 12’7.5’’. Yang’s pole vault score on Friday is Yale’s third best performance of all time.

The men’s team also brought a few Bulldogs to Boston University, as the squad only competed in the day’s field events and the 60-meter race.

“It’s always great to test ourselves against teams that we are not used to seeing week in and week out, and today gave us the chance to compete against a number of teams from up and down the eastern seaboard,” Shoehalter said. “We were able to be competitive in every event in which we were entered and are looking forward to more great performances tomorrow.”

Record setter Matt Appel ’24 finished fourth and was only a sliver away from securing a place on the podium, ultimately throwing for an impressive 16.44 meter. Odera Nweke ’23 and Darius Jing ’22 placed second and fourth, respectively, in the long jump. In the weight throw, Appel and Andrew Rochon ’21 SOM ’22  came back to join Jack Dunn ’22 and each placed in the top seven.

Trent Charles ’22 was the only Bulldog to advance to the final round of the 60-meter race with a time of 6.81. Unfortunately, Marcus Young ’24 suffered an injury while jumping which did not allow him to perform at his best for the pole vaulting, according to a Yale Athletics press release.

Meanwhile, most of the team competed at Boston University the next day. Saturday’s event saw a myriad of new personal bests from the women’s team, excellent performances from rookies and one Yale record broken by the men’s squad.

Saturday included another recording breaking performance for McMahon who finished the 400-meter dash with a time of 55.84 seconds — setting a new school record. In the 500-meter dash, Addison Coy ’22 finished second, breaking her own personal best and also making it into Yale’s all-time list in second place with a time of 1:14.22 seconds.

Maya Sharp ’22 also broke her personal best at the 500 meter by 1.5 seconds for a total of 1:15.17 seconds — making her fourth in Yale’s all-time list.

The rookies also had a historic day on Saturday, with Maria Leskovec ’24 and Arielle Moore ’25 breaking their personal bests in the weight throw and the 500 meter respectively. Bharathi Subbiah ’24 and Dominique Romain ’25 placed within the top ten in the long jump, with the former jumping her season’s best. Kyra Pretre ’24 also placed second in the 1,000-meter race with a time of 2:51.56 seconds.

Karen Kirunda ’23 also secured a season best in the triple jump with a leap of 36’”. Vasen followed up on her impressive performance on Friday by finishing top five in the weight throw event. Samantha Friborg ’23 also ran a personal best in the 800 meter, with a time of 2:07.77 seconds making her performance third-place in school history.

The cross country All-American Kayley Delay ’22 broke in the new year by continuing her incredible streak as she ran the mile to the tune of 4:40.77 seconds, which was good for second all-time in Yale track and field history.

McMahon, Isom, Aliya Boshnak ’23 and Coy ran the fastest 4×400 meter in the history of the Blue and White, finishing third overall in the competition with a time of 3:41.75 seconds. Boshnak competed for Jordan at the Tokyo Olympics last year in the 400-meter event.

Men’s track and field captain Sei described to the News how “heartwrenching” it was to watch his teammates shatter the record. “It was like really, really sentimental to see them break the women’s 4×400 record,” the Oregon native said.

The men also had an impressive day. Appel placed third in the weight throw with a 17.99 meter mark and continued this impressive performance by throwing 16.48 meter in the shot put final, placing fifth overall but achieving a better distance than the day before. 

On the track, Robert Miranda ’22 competed in the mile race and finished with a time of 3:59.27 seconds in the finals. Although he placed fifth in the meet, he ran the second fastest time a Bulldog has ever ran in this event, earning a place on Yale’s record books. 

“Whenever anyone runs a sub-four mile, like I think you just have to tip your hat to them,” Sei said. “And it was really, really incredible to cheer on Rob as he has he went for that. That was a hard, hard fought mile.”

Will Laird ’22 finished the mile race with a time of 4:02.72 seconds, taking ninth overall. Christopher Colbert ’22, Colin Quinn ’25, Simon Jupp ’25, and Aaron Miller ’25 placed third in the 4×400-meter relay, clocking 3:14.73 seconds in just 18 and 20 milliseconds behind second and first place, respectively.

In the 1,000-meter competition, Calvin Katz ’25 placed sixth. In the men’s 200-meter dash, Jacob Kao ’25 placed in the top ten, with a time of 21.72 seconds against a very tough field. In the 500 meter, Sei took home first in the final round with a time of 1:02.79 seconds, making it the only win of the meet for both teams. What excited Sei the most however, is the potential that he sees in the future, for this season and beyond. 

“It’s nice to be where we are now, where it truly feels like your track and field is stronger than it’s been in years,” Juma said. “And it feels like we’re sort of on the precipice of something really, really exciting. I would say that is the biggest accomplishment where we are at right now.” 

This Friday, the Blue and White will head back to Boston for the David Hemery Valentine Invitational hosted by Boston University.