If you measure the ability of a team by the level of competition it faces, then the men’s and women’s track teams are miles ahead of the rest of the Ivy League. Over the past few weeks, the Red has steamrolled its opponents. This weekend was no exception, as the teams showed no mercy, dominating Yale at its own invitational.
Men
The Red took first place in 15 of 16 events and blew Yale away 100-36. Despite the success, the team is not content to bask in the glory of the regular season.
“Our real focus is on the Heps,” said head coach Nathan Taylor. “We would like to have successful meets but not at the expense of where we’re going to do down the road. The guys who are competing are going to really go after it.”
In the field, junior Ryan Schmidt won the long jump with a distance of 6.97 while teammates, senior Jason Hart and sophomore Vito Spadifino, finished second and third respectively. In the throws, senior Giles Longley-Cook threw for a distance of 18.94 meters winning the event. Freshmen Kofi Ofori-Anash and David Pell contributed with strong performances. Ofori-Anash won the triple jump and David Pell won the high jump.
On the track, the Red continued its dominance over the Elis. Senior Erik Pedersen won the 55-meter hurdles with a time of 7.72 seconds. In the 400-meter dash, the Red claimed the top two spots, as senior Mike Nanaszko beat out junior Kenan Goggins. The knock -ut punch was delivered in the 800-meter run, in which the Red finished in the top four spots.
After all the regular season success, the post season still awaits. Taylor emphasized the importance of balancing work and rest in order to peak at the right time.
“Last week was a less stressful week in terms of running training, but we’re weight training at our highest point of the whole year. We’re not looking to have superior performances, but rather good performances.”
Women
The Red women’s squad dominated Yale winning 95-50.
“We turned in strong performances across the board,” said head coach Lou Duesing. “Yale was second to us last year in both Heptagonals. They’ve improved this season. I like the performances the team turned in. We responded well, there were a lot of seasonal bests and people really took advantage of the opportunity to compete.”
On the track, senior Hannah Garrity continues to shine. Building off last weekend’s performance which earned her a place on the Ivy League Weekly Honor Roll, Garrity won the 200-meter dash and 55-meter hurdles. In the one-mile, junior Sarah Coseo and freshman Nyam Kagwima finished first and second separated by only a second. In the 3,000-meter run, junior Katie Boyles returned from an allergic reaction that had sidelined her last week to win the event by a remarkable 24 seconds.
The most clutch performance of the day came in the high jump. Junior Jessica Brown cleared the bar on her first attempt at the 1.65 meter height and took a lead over her Yale opponent Lisa Wygant. Wygant eventually cleared the height, and the struggle continued. At the next height, both failed to clear the bar in their first two jumps, but Wygant cleared the height on her final attempt. With the pressure on, Brown cleared the bar and won the high jump, qualifying for the ECACs in the process.
“She had her best jump of the year,” said Duesing. “I just love the way she answered the challenge. Forget about clearing the height and qualifying for the ECACs, it was through the competition she achieved her best.”
Archived article by James Rich