Musco Sports Photos

On Friday and Saturday, Yale’s track and field teams split up into three, with some athletes competing at the Georgia Tech Invite in Atlanta, others competing at the Virginia Challenge in Charlottesville and the rest staying in New Haven to compete in Yale’s Mark Young Invitational. 

After most of the team took the previous weekend off from competition, the Bulldogs kicked off the final stretch of meets leading up to the Ivy League Championships this May. Yale was led by its two discus throwers Matt Appel ’24 and Bella Bergloff ’24, who each threw a PR in Atlanta. Appel’s throw landed a new school record, and the team is looking to carry this momentum into the rest of the season.

“We have had some amazing individual and relay performances so far and have no plans to be complacent in the coming weeks,” Ella Mainwaring Foster ’24 told the News. “We have room to do better this season and are on schedule to perform and compete well at the Ivy League Championships.”

On the men’s side of events, Appel shone the brightest, setting personal and school records with a 58.38m throw in the discus. Andrew Farr ’26 also PR’ed for the Bulldogs in the 400m with a time of 48.52. Other successes came when Austin Montini ’25 finished third in the 800m with a time of 1:51.95 and when Richard Sturtevant ’23 took first place in the 1500m with a time of 1:53.83.

Appel, whose school record continues a season of impressive podium finishes and PR’s, said he has more left to prove when asked about his excitement following the school record.

“Interestingly enough, my coach asked me almost the same thing: “What’s the satisfaction level at right now?’” Appel wrote to the News. “To be honest I’d say about 7.5/10. It feels great to get a good throw under my belt with still a couple meets left in the season before the postseason, although knowing where my form is at and knowing how much I can improve on in a short time it’s hard not to think that there’s still bigger throws to be had very soon.”

The women’s team also saw an impressive performance in the discus with Bergloff’s 47.25m throw, which earned her fifth place. Other notable finishes came from Caroline Glessing ’26 in the 200m with a 25.71m PR and Casia Provencal ’26, who set PR’s in both the 100m and 100m hurdles with times of 12.82 and 15.11, respectively.

When asked about her excitement after her PR in the discus, Bergloff said she was pleased but still looking ahead to the Ivies.

“This weekend sort of gave me a new-found confidence going into the last couple of meets,” Bergloff wrote to the News. “This throw makes me more competitive in the league, so I’m looking forward to seeing how this influences the way I feel going into Heps. Duke always asks us before meets whether we are nervous or excited. I think that after this weekend I’ll be leaning towards excitement for the competitions to come.”

In the meantime, Yale has another meet next weekend before the Ivy League Championships on May 6 and 7. Next weekend, some athletes will head to the Texas Invitational in Austin while the rest will stay home in New Haven to compete in the Yale Springtime Invitational.