Courtesy of Yale Athletics

The women’s and men’s indoor track squads both placed sixth in the Ivy League this weekend, earning 56 and 45 points, respectively.

On Feb. 26 and 27, the Bulldogs competed in the 2022 Ivy League Heptagonal Indoor Track and Field Championships which were hosted at the Armory Track and Field Center in New York.

Juma Sei ’22, Trenton Charles ’22 and Kayley DeLay ’22 became Ivy League champions after record-breaking performances.

“The atmosphere was absolutely amazing,” Peyton Parker ’25 said about her first Heps. “You could feel how excited everyone was to finally compete in this meet after two years. The number of personal bests that our team alone got speaks to how motivated everyone was.”

The squad channeled their excitement into speed, strength, personal bests and school records.

Despite placing sixth, the women’s score of 56 is the highest overall score the Bulldogs have achieved since 2006, when they scored 85 points. 

“We are showing constant improvement as a team,” head coach David Shoehalter said to Yale Athletics. “The group stepped up and competed at an extremely high level from the first event to the last. Kayley DeLay got things off to a great start on Saturday [winning the 3000m] and we continued to compete and scrap for every available point through the weekend.”

The highlight of the weekend was indeed Kayley Delay ’22, who won the Ivy League championship and set a meet record with a time of 9:09.19 in the 3000 meter event. On Tuesday, the Florida native was selected to compete in the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships in the 5000 meter run. 

Other great performances included Julia Dvorak ’24, Maya Sharp ’22, Jocelyn Chau ’22 and Iris Bergman ’25 who crossed the finish line in second place in the 4×800 meter relay. They are now sixth in the Yale all-time record book with a time of 8:52.64. Chau and Bergman went on to place fourth in the 1000 meter and 800 meter races, respectively — with Bergman making it to the ninth fastest time in program history.

The quartet of Aliya Boshnak ’23, Sophie Isom ’22, Addison Coy ’22 and Libby McMahon ’22 ran their 4×400 meter relay once again and placed third with a time of 3:44.15 seconds. Coy also placed fourth in the 500 meter race.

McMahon’s weekend did not end there as she also ran the 200 meter and the 60 meter races. In the former, she improved her own school record with 23.97 seconds under her belt. In the latter, she placed fourth overall with a time of 7.66 seconds, which made her tied for third all-time with Lily Enes ’20. 

Also making it to third all-time were Kyra Pretre ’24, Parker, Samantha Friborg ’23 and DeLay, who together ran the distance medley. They placed fourth overall and crossed the finish line at a time of 11:26.46.

The men also exhibited growth by making it to all but two final races.

The highlights of the day were the captain Juma Sei ’22 and Trenton Charles ’22, who both broke records and took home golds.

“We showed a great deal of grit and determination,” Shoehalter said to Yale Athletics. “Each and every competitor gave their all and allowed the excitement of the weekend to raise the level of their performances. Trenton Charles broke the Yale 60m record on successive days and he and Juma have served to inspire the entire group to bigger and better things.”

In the 500 meter, Sei crossed the finish line to the tune of 1:02.67, just 5.98 seconds slower than the world record. This achievement awarded him first place in this competition. This was an improvement on his personal best and moved him up the board on Yale’s all time list.

Charles, on the other hand, set a new meet record in the 60 meter with a time of 6.68 seconds in the final, which allowed him to take the top position. He broke his own school record for the second day in a row, as he had broken his previous one during the preliminary round on Saturday by finishing in 6.71 seconds.

Other highlights included Aaron Miller ’25 who managed to achieve a new personal best in the 400 meter dash with a time of 48.35 seconds and Matt Appel ’24 who threw 17.84 meters for the shot put bronze.

The distance medley team of Will Laird ’22, Robert Miranda ’22, Colin Quinn ’25 and Cameron Wyman ’22 secured second place with a time of 9:54.22. The 4×400 was contested by Chris Colbert ’22, Simon Jupp ’25, Miller and Sei, taking home fourth place with a time of 3:14.32. 

“Ultimately, I see this as an opportunity to finally see the fruits of all of our hours of hard work. So that’s more than anything what I’ll be emphasizing to the team is you have nothing to lose,” Sei said last week before Heps. “Don’t leave the track, feeling as though you could have done more because again, we’ve worked too hard for that.”

With many new personal bests, 16 new Yale records and three championships, the Blue and White now turn to the regional and national stages.

This weekend, the Bulldogs will travel to the ECAC Indoor Track and Field Championships at Boston University. Other members of the squad, such as DeLay, will also be preparing for the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships on March 11 and 12 in Birmingham, Alabama.