Men's track doubles up Harvard in blowout

By Deirdre Bill

JULIA TIERNAN/YH Damon Hanlan, MC '98, was one of the many contributors to Yale's huge victory over Harvard.

On Sat., Apr. 18, spurred on by his teammates and the sounds of the Yale Precision Marching Band in the background, runner Matt Harris, MC '98, sprinted to a win in the 5,000 meter run. Needless to say, he had trouble holding back a smile. Not only had he won one of the last track races of his Yale career, he had just widened the victory margin in the team's incredible 110-51 defeat of Harvard. This was the same Harvard team that defeated the Bulldogs in Yale's disappointing last place finishes at the indoor Harvard-Yale-Princeton and Heptagonal Championships earlier in the season.

The decisive victory, which took place at Yale's Dewitt Cuyler Track, was a complete turnaround from the team's devastating final indoor performances. Runner Chris Karas, SM '98, who won the 1500 meter run, said, "The difference between last weekend and indoors was that everyone was healthy. It wasn't the wins, it was the seconds and thirds. When we have a healthy squad, it's easy to beat Harvard."

The win was a total team effort as the team won 15 of 18 events, including a sweep of the first three places in several events. Brian Yates, PC '00, placed in three events, including first-place finishes in the shot-put and the discus. In the former, he topped his previous personal best. In the hammer, he placed second. His and other Eli perfomances in the hammer set the tone for the meet which continued through the other events. "The hammer was the first event and we swept it," Yates said. "That set a precedent for the meet. [The success] snowballed. Everybody was on everybody else's high. People saw one guy winning and they won."

Yates was not the only athlete who placed in several events. Captain Peter Coghlan, JE '98, and Damon Hanlan, MC '98, each placed in four events. Coghlan took both the 100 and 200 meter dash as well as the 110 meter high hurdles, while Hanlan captured the long jump. Seth Brody, MC '98, also contributed with his first-place finish in the pole vault event.

Yale dominated the throwing events, scoring 26 out of a possible 27 points. In fact, Yale even got a third place point from distance runner Alex Zemek, DC '99, in the javelin. Zemek also won the 3,000 meter steeplechase.

The Yale team was equally impressive on the track. Almost every member of the team ran well, and several athletes managed to beat personal records. Perhaps more impressive than the individual performances, however, was the fact that so many people competed well on the same day. Coghlan noted, "None of the wins by themselves were unexpected. It was the fact that we won all of them. You expect some ups and downs, but we were on a roll."

Much of Yale's success was due to a strong showing by the freshman class. Matt Miesonczek, JE '01, won the 400 hurdles; Jason Rife, SM '01, placed second in the 400 meters at 48.03 seconds; Ryan Barrows, CC '01, won the 800 meters; and Jack Lovejoy, PC '01, Andrew Quigg, JE '01, and Rob Doyle, DC '01, all set personal records. The efforts of these and the other freshmen helped to convert what could have been a close meet into a one-sided Yale victory. "We kind of thought that it was going to be really close," Coghlan said. "We lost to Harvard indoors [this year] and lost by a point last year. I never would have told anybody that we would double their score."

Yale hopes to use the victory to build momentum for the upcoming outdoor Heptagonal Championships on Sat., May 9 and Sun., May 10. The team must have a repeat of its performance against Harvard to succeed. Yates said, "Everybody was just glowing with happiness [after Harvard]. We were on such a high, and we really realized our potential as a unit. Functioning as a team, we saw what we are capable of."

The team is currently competing in Philadelphia at the Penn Relays, which run through Sat., Apr. 25. On Sun., Apr. 26, the Bulldogs return to New Haven for the Yale Invitational. If the team is able to carry this newly-realized sense of team success through these meets to the Heptagonals, it could easily place among the top three or four teams--a vast improvement over the dismal performances at the indoor championships and a positive sign for future years as the freshmen continue to improve. More importantly, it would assert Yale's strength not only against Harvard but against the other teams in the Ivy League as well.

The days of finishing last indoors are over. The Bulldogs are poised to show the rest of the Ivy League that they can compete with anyone.

Back to Sports...