Yale Athletics

The Yale track and field squad started its outdoor season breaking both personal and school records at the Raleigh Relays from March 24 to 26.

The Bulldogs made their transition to the outdoor spring season last weekend when they headed down to Raleigh, North Carolina. Only a small portion of the team have had previous collegiate outdoor track experience.

“Only seniors — or juniors that took a gap year — have ever had an outdoor season at Yale, so there is a lot of room for growth and putting up big performances this season,” women’s captain Emma Vasen ’22 said. “It’s crazy to think that as an academic senior graduating this spring, I am an athletic sophomore.” 

On the first day of the four-day competition, only three Yalies took the field: Elon Abergel ’25 and Stephen Moody ’24 both ran for the men’s team, and Eileen Yang ’24 jumped for the women. Abergel ran the 1500 meter race to the tune of 3:56.12, good enough for 177th. 

Moody, on the other hand, ran the 5000 meter race and set a new school record with a time of 13:58.26. The record was previously held by Kevin Dooney ’16, who ran in the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships. 

“It was a perfect night for a fast race,” the record breaker told Yale Athletics. “I felt really good and was able to get the job done,” Moody said.

Yang broke her own personal best as she vaulted to a fourth place finish with 3.75 meters under her belt. The finish places her third in Yale’s record books.

“Raleigh was so fun,” Yang wrote. “A lot of my friends from high school are now athletes at these big state schools, and it just felt like a mini reunion. Going to these big meets is so fun, and it definitely pushes you to be the best you can.” 

Matt Appel ’24 started off the second day of the NC State-hosted meet by throwing the discus 47.86 meters and placing 20th. The thrower made a name for himself during the winter season by breaking the school shot put record. Outdoor track and field sees a larger number of throwing events, like the discus, javelin and hammer. 

Trenton Charles ’22, who is not a stranger to breaking records as he broke the indoor 60 meter school record twice in the span of two days, ran the 100 meter dash in only 10.45 seconds. This would have been good enough for a new Yale record, but unfortunately the tailwind was 0.2 meters over the legal limit and thus his record could not be registered. He placed ninth overall. Phil Zuccaro ’22 also ran in the race and broke the 11-second barrier with a time of 10.95 seconds, placing in 49th.

“Outdoor is a bit finicky since so much of it is dependent on the weather,” Yang wrote. “Weather conditions can either favor or work against the athletes.”

Rookie Colin Quinn ’25 ran the 400 meter dash with a time of 49.35 seconds, placing 34th overall. Harry Grindle ’23 finished behind him with a time of 50.08 seconds, placing 65th.

Lastly, Brendan Murray ’22 ran the 10,000 meters in 30:10.98, good enough for 82nd place.

As for the women, Vasen shattered her personal record by throwing 43.69 meters in the discus throw, placing fifth overall. With this distance, she maintained her fifth all-time Yale record.

In the 100 meter dash, Libby McMahon ’22 crossed the finish line in 11.46 seconds, which earned her a place as fourth overall in the meet. Her teammates, Ava Thomas ’22 and Aliya Boshnak ’23 followed behind her with 33rd and 49th place finishes, respectively.

Abrianna Barrett ’24 placed 10th in the high jump with 1.65 meters, just 0.05 meters off her personal best.

Jocelyn Chau ’22 took on the 1500 meters and raced to the tune of 4:28.17 seconds. Although she placed 51st, she beat the 2022 Ivy League Indoor Champion, Margaret Hock, from Princeton and was less than a second away from besting Fiona Max, Princeton’s fastest distance runner. Kyra Pretre ’24 finished her first collegiate 1500 meter race in 4:37.33.

Kayley DeLay ’22, who just came back from the NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships where she earned All-American honors for a second time, took on the 5000 meter race. She placed third and set a new Yale record with a time of 15:39.11. Once again, she broke Olympian Kate O’Neill ’03’s record of 15:51.30. 

On the last day of the competition, the bulldogs once again ran against the wind as the conditions worsened. 

Jack Dunn ’22 threw the hammer to the tune of 178’6”. This score was good enough for twelfth all-time in the Yale record books.

Juma Sei ’22, the men’s captain, ran in the 200 meter relay and placed 25th with a time of 21.77 seconds.

As for the women, Boshnak, McMahon, Thomas and Sophie Isom ’22 competed in the 4×100 meter relay, but were not able to complete the final exchange and thus did not finish the race. Their time, however, could have been good enough to become a new Yale record.

In the 800 meter, both Chau and Maya Sharp ’22 took on the track and placed third and fourth among Ivy League competitors, respectively. Sharp’s time of 2:13.14 was a new personal record.

Senior Addison Coy ’22 took on the 400 meter hurdles and finished second overall with a time of 59.84 seconds under her belt. She still holds the school record of 58.77 seconds, which she set back in 2018. The time from this competition would have been good enough for second all-time in Yale history.

Isom also took the 200 meter dash and placed 27th overall with a personal best time of 24.91 seconds. This time was good enough for fifth all-time in the Yale record books.

In the 4×400 meter dash, Iris Bergman ’25, Coy, McMahon and Sharp broke the finish line with a time of 3:49.39, placing ninth in the race.

Vasen then came back to shatter her personal record in the hammer throw, which also is now second all-time at Yale. She threw a distance of 174 feet and seven inches.

“Every PR is very exciting, but this one was especially fun,” she said. “I knew it was a good throw immediately after it left my hands and that is an especially great feeling. The Yale hammer record is definitely a personal goal of mine this season.”

On April 2, the Bulldogs will head over to Storrs, Connecticut to race at the UConn Dog Fight.