Women's track defeats league rivals across board

Look into the eyes of Captain Emily Estey, BR '01, on race day, and see if she looks back. See if she notices you're there, or if she looks behind you. "Every day I see the same looks of focus and desire among the women," she said. "This is the best I've ever seen the women look, and they're not going to let anyone stand in the way of what they want."

REBECCA ROSENTHAL/YH Women's track defeated Columbia and Dartmouth last weekend with strong individual showings.

On Sun., Jan. 21 at Coxe Cage, Columbia and Dartmouth tried to hinder the success of the Bulldogs. However, neither Estey nor the rest of the women's track squad paid them heed. Estey herself set a personal record on the 800-meter run, taking first place with a time of 2:11.11.

Teammate Jessica Thomas, MC '02, was her closest opponent, finishing more than four seconds behind her. Both runners far outpaced the nearest non-Bulldog, Dartmouth's Cecily Garber '03, who clocked in at 2:16.91. Yale cruised to victory with 72.5 points over Dartmouth's 54.5 and Columbia's 32.

Head Coach Mark Young was pleased with the meet's results. "I think we did what we hoped to do," he said. "All the people we were counting on to do well did well—Melanie [Harris, BK '01], Jennifer [Newsom, JE '01], Yetsa [Tuakli-Wosornu, TD '01]—those are the people that are established, top-level performers in this league, and they're doing it. They're living up to their billing."

Yale did well across the board. Sikira Backus, ES '02, took first in the 55-meter dash with a time of 7.33 seconds, followed closely by Tuakli-Wosornu at 7.46. Newsom placed first in the 200, beating out Columbia's Grace Licorish '02 by four hundredths of a second. "Grace and I fought it out until the finish," Newsom said. "She is a capable runner, but I wasn't about to let somebody come to my home track and beat me." Newsom was also a member of the winning 4x400 relay team. "In years past...I did the 4x400 relay only on one occasion," Newsom said. "But now I'm running it more frequently and really training for the event. You rarely get to experience a true team effort in an individualized sport like track. But on the relay, four girls get to come together...it's pretty exciting." Thomas agreed: "I have a great deal of confidence in the other three women on our relay team. Every time we go to the line I think we can win."

Anika Kreider, MC '03, was a surprise winner in the 400-meter dash. "I had no idea going into it," she said. Kreider was actually in the slower heat before the race but beat runners from both heats with a time of 59.55 seconds. Estey singled Kreider out as one of the "up-and-coming underclassmen who is on the verge of a breakthrough season." Other first-place finishers were Tuakli-Wosornu in both the long jump and the triple jump (with distances of over 18 and 39 feet, respectively) and Harris in the 20-pound weight throw, an event in which, according to Estey, she is "one of the best on the East Coast." Additionally, the 4x800 quarter also rolled to victory.

Young was extremely pleased about the meet. When asked if any runners didn't meet expectations, he said, "We didn't have any disappointments in that respect. It was really a good, solid performance all the way around." If anything, he was positively surprised. Estey's time, for instance, "was pretty fast for this early in the year."

But that won't make the rest of the season the proverbial walk in the park. "Our coaches continually remind us that we've got the talent it takes to win, but that it's our responsibility to make it happen every week," Thomas said. "Mental focus, attention to little things, courage at the meets will carry us through the season...winning brings with it a special kind of pressure."

The seniors, Young said, have been a big help in achieving that goal. "As a group, the seniors have really been notable in the way they've gone about their business," he said. Kreider concurred: "I think the seniors are doing an incredible job of leading the team this year—setting an example and encouraging us during practice."

Nobody personifies that attitude more than Estey. "We all want Yale women's track and field to have a championship year, and we're working our butts off every single day," she said. "We know what we've got to do to be great and we've all agreed that this is what we want more than anything. So we'll put in all of the hard workouts, early morning pool practices, lifting sessions and weekend competitions, because we know that at the end of it we can be champions."

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