NEW HAVEN, Conn.—The Yale women’s track and field team opened postseason competition at home on Saturday, taking part in day one of the Ivy League Heptagonal Championships at Yale’s Dewitt Cuyler Athletic Complex. The meet, which wraps up on Sunday, pits Yale against their seven Ivy League rivals and always proves to be one of the most exciting competitions of the season. At the conclusion of day one, the Bulldogs reside in eighth place with seven points, as Princeton (42 points), Columbia (21), Harvard (19) and Brown (19) hold the top four spots. Most of the scoring, however, will take place on Sunday, which will feature the relays and the final rounds of most individual track events.
Competing in the final Heps of her impressive career, senior Emily Urciuoli was the Elis’ star on Saturday, placing third in the pole vault with a season-best mark of 12’1.50″ (3.70m). Urciuoli not only added six points to Yale’s tally, but also earned a spot in the pole vault at next weekend’s ECAC Championships. Assuming she competes at the ECACs, Urciuoli’s accomplished career is not over just yet. Sophomore Renee Vogelalso participated in the pole vault on Saturday, posting a solid mark of 11’3.75″ (3.45m), tying the personal record that she originally set against Harvard back in April.
Given the small number of scored final events taking place on Saturday, junior long jumper Alisha Jordan was the only other Bulldog to score on the first day. Jordan (18’8″ –5.69m) easily outdid her season-best mark and even broke her previous personal record in the event. After fouling on her first attempt, Jordan posted strong measurements on three of her next four leaps before hitting her top mark on her very last attempt. Jordan earned her team an additional point. Freshman Rachel Wofford(17’1.50″ – 5.22m) and senior Teresa Parent (16’3.25″ – 4.96m) also took part in the long jump, placing 16th and 18th, respectively. Wofford’s mark was by far the best of her young collegiate career.
In the hammer throw—the final scored event in which the Elis entered athletes on Saturday—sophomore Taylor Eldridge (163’8″ – 49.88) took seventh overall, edging out her teammates, freshman Kate Simon (150’1″ – 45.75m) and sophomore Karleh Wilson (158’3″ – 48.23m). Both Eldridge and Simon set personal records, while Wilson approached the impressive personal record mark of 164’11” (50.27m) that she set at the Yale Springtime Invitational a couple weekends ago. Simon and Wilson both recorded their top marks on their second attempts, while Eldridge opened strong, registering her personal record throw on her very first toss. Eldridge just missed out on earning points for her team, falling outside of the top six.
Emily Cable, meanwhile, made her presence felt in Saturday’s preliminary rounds. The junior sprinter cruised to a second-place finish in her 400-meter dash heat to take the fourth-fastest overall time (54.37) and qualify for Sunday’s 400-meter final. Saturday was a big day for Cable, as she broke the 55.00 mark for the first time in her career, outdoing her previous 400-meter personal record by more than a full second and running the second-best time Yale has ever seen on an outdoor track. Cable also ran in the 200-meter prelims, where she set another personal record at 24.54, again the second-best time in Yale history, and earned herself a spot in the event at the ECACs. She finished with the 13th-fastest overall time in the event.
The Bulldogs entered athletes in four other prelim races on Saturday. In the 100-meter hurdles, sophomore Mackenzie Matthews (14.61) nearly qualified for Sunday’s final, falling 0.13 seconds shy of Dartmouth junior Lauren Ready, who grabbed the fourth and final qualifying spot in their heat. Matthews has run well as of late and was coming off a first-place finish in the event at the Yale Springtime Invitational.
Senior Kelsey Lin (12.35) competed in the 100-meter dash prelims, breaking her previous personal record in the event (set just a few weeks ago) by more than one-tenth of a second.
In the middle-distance events, sophomore Shannon McDonnell led the way, finishing with the 10th-fastest overall time in the 800-meter prelims and qualifying for the ECACs in the process. McDonnell missed out on qualifying for Sunday’s final by just a few seconds. Freshman Frances Schmiede (2:16.07) and sophomore Grace Brittan (2:17.58) finished with the 19th– and 22nd-fastest overall times in the event. Brittan also set a personal record on Saturday. Finally, freshman Emily Waligurski (4:34.55) and senior Sarah Barry (4:48.40) finished 12th and 19th, respectively, in the 1,500-meter prelims, with Waligurski setting a personal record.
Sunday’s events will begin at 11:00 a.m.,
From: http://www.yalebulldogs.com/sports/w-track/2013-14/releases/201405102aomrp
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