Short for Intercollegiate Association for Amateur Athletes of America and the Eastern College Athletic Conference, the IC4A and ECAC Championships feature many division 1 schools from the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions of the country. The Bulldogs sent a limited group of athletes to compete, with most athletes finishing their season at the Ivy League Indoor Track & Field Championships on Feb. 24 and 25.

“We made some strides forward during the indoor season and are ready to continue to improve as we move outdoors,” head coach David Shoehalter wrote to the News. “Our goals outdoors remain to improve on our finishes from last year. I am excited about the rest of the year and looking forward to getting started anew this week.”

On the men’s side of competition, the Bulldogs competed in the middle and long distance events. Owen Karas ’26 placed second overall in the mile with a time of 4:04.99, followed by teammates Braden King ’26 in fourth with a 4:08.31 finish and Brian Gamble ’27 in sixth with a 4:09.08 finish. All three earned All-East honors because of their top-eight finishes. Austin Montini ’25 also brought home a second-place finish with a time of 2:30.91 in the 1000m, and Thomas Cirrito ’24 brought home another fourth-place finish with a 1:50.23 time in the 800m. Kenan Pala ’26 secured another top-eight finish, taking seventh in the 3000m with a PR of 8:10.44.

In the men’s relays, the distance medley relay team finished in fourth with a 9:53.77 finish led by Ronan Luff ’27, Cirrito, Amare Fields ’27 and Tanish Chettiar ’26.

“At the IC4A championships, we had another shot at championship racing before the indoor season ended,” Karas wrote to the News. “Championship racing can be a unique experience as it is often a multi-day event with multiple races per athlete. Without sending a full squad, our team was still able to take fourth place overall in the meet. Our miler group was particularly excited as we secured four automatic qualifiers from prelim heats on Saturday. All four of us scored in the final on Sunday. Getting the extra championship racing experience will serve us well when the Ivy League outdoor championship arrives this spring.”

The women’s team only sent one athlete to compete, Linde Fonville ’26, who took ninth in the mile with a time of 5:00.46.

With the rest of the teams staying home this weekend, men’s team captain Matt Appel ’24 offered insight into his team’s attitude toward the conclusion of the indoor and the beginning of the outdoor seasons.

“I think Heps gave us a good reminder of the work that is still to be done for our team,” Appel wrote to the News. “We were close to something that we could be satisfied with, but starting with myself, points were left on the table across the board. I see this as an opportunity for us to double down on our efforts for the outdoor season so that we can end the year on a high note and be able to see how much we have grown. We were only one point off of 6th, and not far out of 5th which would be a 3 place jump as a team from last year. The attitude for this team going forward needs to be progress over perfection.”

The Bulldogs will kick off their outdoor season in Orlando, where they will head to the University of Central Florida to compete in the Knights Invite on March 22 and 23.

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Against their seven Ivy rivals, the Elis took home seventh in the men’s competition and eighth in the women’s competition. Many athletes set personal records and earned points for the Bulldogs, and three athletes — men’s team captain Matt Appel ’24, Brian Di Bassinga ’26 and Gloria Guerrier ’27 — notched top three finishes in their events. 

“There were some very good performances across the board, but we can’t be satisfied,” men’s head coach David Shoehalter wrote to the News. “There is a great deal of room for improvement, and I am confident that we will see big improvements moving forward.”

On the men’s side of events, Appel and Di Bassinga led the scoring for the Bulldogs, with Appel’s 18.13m hurl in the shot put earning him third and Di Bassinga’s 15.29m PR in triple jump earning the team a second bronze. Kit Colson ’25 came in next for the Bulldogs at fourth place in the 60m with a finish of 6.81 seconds. Thomas Cirrito ’24 also secured points for Yale, taking fifth in the 800m with a time of 1:50.98. Sean Kay ’24 took home seventh in the 5k with a 14:20.07 finish, a solid finish for the cross country team captain who earned a bid to NCAA Nationals in the fall. 

The men’s relays also performed strongly, with the distance medley relay, 4×880, and 4×440 teams all earning the Bulldogs points. Featuring Leo Brewer ’25, Cirrito, Owen Karas ’26 and Andrew Farr ’26, the distance medley relay team took fourth, as did the 4×880 team featuring Brian Gamble ’27, Calvin Katz ’25, Tanish Chettiar ’26 and Austin Montini ’25. The 4×440 team took sixth, featuring a squad of Jacob Kao ’25, Aaron Miller ’25, Colson and Simon Jupp ’25.

“We qualified a lot of people to the finals and did a decent job hanging in there with some tough competition,” Captain Appel wrote to the News. “I’m proud of all the men who scored, and am pleased with the effort the team put forward. As individualized as track and field can seem, the beauty of competing at the collegiate level is that at conference meets it is a team sport and everyone’s contribution counts. Over the weekend we, as a team, didn’t place how we wanted and we are going to double down for outdoors to get rid of that bitter taste in our mouths.”

On the women’s side of events, Guerrier led the team with a third-place finish in the 500m, clocking in at 1:13.04. Kyra Pretre ’24 had the next highest finish for the Bulldogs, earning fifth place in the mile with a time of 4:41.50. Linde Fonville ’26 earned sixth place finish in the 1000m, clocking in at 2:50.18, Juliette Kosmont ’27 took home sixth in the 60m with a 7.61-second finish, and Victoria Guerrer ’27 took home sixth in the 800m with a PR of 2:08.10. Team captain Isabella Bergloff ’24 earned eighth in the shot put with a PR of 13.57m. 

The women’s relays performed strongly, with the 4×880 team consisting of Fonville, Pretre, Molly Harding ’26 and Kalista Villatoro ’27 taking sixth and the 4×440 team consisting of Mira Thakur ’24, Bridget Vitu ’25, Gloria Guerrier and Victoria Guerrier took third. 

“Getting 8th place at Heps is never an ideal outcome, but there were some parts of the weekend that were promising for the years to come,” Captain Bergloff wrote to the News. “We saw more depth in our events than we’ve had in a while, with 7 individual athletes scoring, only two of which were seniors.”

The Bulldogs finish off their Indoor Season next weekend at the ECAC and IC4A Championships in Boston, Mass. on Friday, March 1 through Sunday, March 3. 

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This was the team’s fifth and final weekend of the indoor regular season. The team’s first meet took place in New Haven in early December, and the remaining four meets picked up where they left off in New Haven four weekends ago and continued without a break. After facing a mix of Connecticut and Ivy League opponents early in the season, the team has spent the past three weekends splitting up between Boston, New Haven and New York to find the best competition available. However, when they tie up their laces next time around, the field will be much narrower at the Ivy League Indoor Track and Field Championships in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

“The atmosphere of HEPs is just, for lack of a better word, electric in the sense that everyone feels a different energy in the air,” men’s team captain Matt Appel ’24 wrote to the News, speaking of the Ivy League Heptagonal Cross Country Championships. “The stakes are higher, the competition is better, but the light at the end of the tunnel is brighter. Some of the best performances of the entire year come out of HEPs, and it isn’t a coincidence.”

Both the men’s and women’s teams will head into “HEPs,” short for heptagonals, which reflects the fact that in the original Ivy League Championships there were only seven teams, coming off performances filled with personal bests and all-time top-10 finishes. 

On the men’s side of events, Isiah Udofia ’26 kicked the PR’s off with a 7.38 meter leap in the long jump, putting him at sixth on Yale’s all-time top performances. There were two more in the 60 meter dash, with Kit Colson ’25 snagging fourth on Yale’s all-time list with a finish of 6.80 seconds and Christian Pereira ’25 taking seventh all-time with a time of 6.83 seconds. 

In the middle distances, Colin Quinn ’25 and Aaron Miller ’25 performed similarly, finishing with PR’s of 47.68 and 47.81 seconds to take fourth and sixth on Yale’s all-time list, respectively. 

In the longer distances, Martin Riddell ’24 set a personal best with a 14:27 finish in the 5k, as did Leo Brewer ’25, Jack Sendek ’25 and Ronan Luff ’27 in the mile with 4:03, 4:10 and 4:12 finishes, respectively. Sean Kay ’24 also set a personal best in the 3k with an 8:06 finish good for 10th on Yale’s all-time list.

“Laying down some solid marks before HEPs definitely plays a role in boosting our confidence going into the big meet,” Appel wrote to the News. “Knowing what we did well leading up to those big marks helps but so does having two weeks to taper our training so we can peak when we need to.”

On the women’s side of events, first-year Juliette Kosmont ’27 broke a school record, running a 7.55 second 60 meter dash. She was the fourth first-year on the women’s team to break a school record this season. 

Meanwhile, in the mid-distance events, Molly Harding ’26 set a PR in the 400 meter with a 57.41-second finish, and Lola Isom ’27 set a PR in the 500 meter with a 1:16.45 finish. 

In longer distances, Kylie Goldfarb ’25 set a PR in the mile with a finish of 5:01.25, and Marina Carlos ’26 finished with a PR in the 3k with a time of 10:41.68. 

In the field events, Eileen Yang ’24 tied her PR with a 3.85m vault, and Sophie Wright ’24 set an 11.69m PR in the triple jump.

“The women had two competitive opportunities this weekend at the Valentine Invite in Boston and the Giegengack Invite at home at Coxe Cage,” women’s coach Taryn Sheehan wrote to the News. “It’s not always ideal to split up your team but as we head into championship season it’s imperative to make sure each of our athletes have the opportunities we need to be at their best.  The competitive environments proved to be fruitful on the women’s side as we had another record-breaking weekend for the women led by Juliette Kosmont setting a new school record in the women’s 60-meter dash with a time of 7.55.”

With HEPs not taking place until Feb. 24 and 25, the Bulldogs will have a weekend off to train and prepare for the meet. This will be their first weekend off since Jan. 13 and 14.

Women’s captain Isabella Bergloff ’24 provided some insight as to her team’s mindset and goals over these next two weeks.

“We put in a lot of work in the offseason and at the beginning of the season, there isn’t much more we can change in the next two weeks aside from trusting that everything we’ve been doing will set us up for success,” Bergloff wrote to the News. “We are going to work to maintain what we’ve been doing and really emphasize recovery, and use the atmosphere of a big meet to see some record performances to cap off our indoor season.”

Following the Ivy League Indoor Championships, the Bulldogs will continue their indoor postseason at the ECAC/IC4A Championships at Boston University on March 1 through 3 followed by the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships at the TRACK at New Balance, also in Boston, on March 8 and 9.

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The teams were split between two meets, with many of both the men’s and women’s teams’ throwers at Harvard’s Crimson Elite on Friday, Feb. 2, and most of the teams’ runners right across the Charles River at Boston University’s Bruce Lehane Scarlet and White Invitational. With a number of personal records and top-10 all-time school finishes across both the men’s and women’s teams, the Bulldogs continued to steadily improve upon their performances in anticipation of the Ivy League Heptagonal Cross Country Championships, also known as Heps.

“Lots of progress across all event groups this past week,” Yale track and field coach David Shoehalter wrote to the News. “We look to continue that good work this weekend at home Saturday at the Giegengack Invitational and back at BU for the Valentine Invite.” 

On the men’s team, a collection of strong performers were led by Nolan Recker ’26 and Winslow Atkeson ’25. At Harvard on Friday, Recker broke a 37-year school record in the weight throw with a hurl of 20.39m, earning him a second-place finish that was just 0.15m behind the gold medal winner from University of Connecticut. Alongside Recker at the Scarlet & White Invitational, Isiah Udofia ’26 also had himself a day with two personal records — a 7.27m long jump, which earned him fifth place, and a 7.04-second finish in the 60m dash. 

On Saturday at Boston University, Atkeson had the showcase finish for the Bulldogs, breaking four minutes in the mile with a 3:59.39 finish, putting him third on Yale’s all-time list. Also setting PR’s for the Bulldogs, though, were Kit Colson ’25 with a 21.87 second finish in the 200m, Isiah Udofia with his third PR of the weekend in the form of a 22.13-second 200m, Andrew Farr ’26 with a 1:05 finish in the 500m, Owen Karas ’26 and Calvin Katz ’25 with 4:03 and 4:05 finishes in the mile, respectively, and Leo Brewer ’25 and Karas with 8:05 and 8:08 finishes in the 3k. Brewer and Karas’ finishes placed them sixth and ninth on Yale’s all-time lists.

“I think the team is starting to figure out who we are and we need to stay healthy and keep moving in the right direction,” men’s team captain Matt Appel ’24 wrote to the News. “About this point in the season is when we start honing in on HEPS making sure we’re in the position we need to be in to make our final preparations count.”

Meanwhile, the women’s team had similarly strong finishes across the two meets. At Harvard on Friday, Lucija Grd ’27 kicked things off in the 60m hurdles with an 8.57-second finish, just 0.01 seconds off of her PR, which happens to also be the school record. In the field events, Eileen Yang ’24 vaulted herself over a 3.62m-high bar, closing in on her PR of 3.85m, and Maria Leskovec ’24 closed in on her PR in the weight throw with a 17.39m toss.

Across the Charles on Saturday, Mira Thakur ’24 set a PR in the 400m with a 56.51-second finish, putting her fifth on Yale’s all-time list, and another in the 200m with a time of 24.98 seconds, putting her ninth on Yale’s all-time list. Women’s team captain Bella Bergloff ’24 specifically highlighted Thakur’s leadership thus far into the season. Right behind her was Sophie Spokes ’27 with her own PR of 25.68 seconds. In the slightly longer 500m, Bridget Vitu ’25 set a PR of 1:15.39, and Alexandra Bonn ’27 set one of her own in the triple jump with successive leaps accumulating 11.75m. As women’s coach Taryn Sheehan explained, these performances and many others combined for a number of cracks to the Yale all-time top-10 leaderboards.

“Our women’s side took some big leaps forward this past weekend,” Sheehan wrote to the News. “A number of women etched their names into the top 10 All Time lists, including: Dominique Romain in long jump, Juliette Kosmont in the 60m dash, Victoria Guerrier in the 500m run, Gloria Guerrier in the 400m, Alex Bonn in the triple jump, Bharathi Subbiah in the triple jump, Makayla Harris in the weight throw.”

On Saturday, Feb. 10, the teams will split up once more next weekend between Boston University’s David Hemery Valentine Invitational and Yale’s own home meet at Coxe Cage, the 17th Giegengack Invitational. These are their last two meets before Ivy League Heptagonal Indoor Track & Field Championships, which will be held the weekend of Feb. 24-25 in Cambridge, Mass. at Gordon Indoor Track.

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With no more team-scored indoor meets until the Ivy League Indoor Track & Field Championships in February, the Elis got a taste of broader competition last weekend after having primarily faced Ivy League and other Connecticut opponents thus far. Among the teams Yale faced off against last week were Ivy League rivals University of Pennsylvania and Dartmouth College, west coasters Arizona and Stanford University, and northerners Toronto and Maine. They also got experience on a track that they hope to return to later this season.

“This weekend we went up to the North to the new Track at New Balance,” women’s coach Taryn Sheehan wrote to the News. “It gave our athletes a great opportunity to compete in the same building that will be host to the indoor NCAA Championships in March.”

On the men’s side of events, the sprinters started the day with some strong showings. Simon Jupp ’25 led the charge in the 400m, breaking the 50-second barrier with a 49.87-second finish, and Colin Quinn ’25 did the same in the 500m, taking second place overall with a Yale all-time top 10 finish of 1:03.29. Additionally, Jacob Kao ’25 and Kit Colson ’25 both placed second in their heat in the 200m, with Kao breaking the 22-second barrier at 21.99 and Colson clocking in not far off at 22.33.

 In the field events, captain Matt Appel ’24 finished third in the weight throw with a 19.13m hurl, and in the relays, Kao, Quinn, Andrew Farr ’26 and Aaron Miller ’25 teamed up for a 3:14.30 finish, nearly cracking Yale’s all-time top 10 list.

“I think this meet, like every other meet, gave us more insights into what we need to do as a team to be more successful,” captain Matt Appel wrote to the News. “Overall I’m satisfied with the performances we put up this week with the understanding that there is always more work to do. I do want to draw special attention to the men’s 4×4, who ran a great time with fantastic individual efforts on all four legs and beat Arizona’s 4×4 team and took a meet W.”

On the women’s side of events, Lucija Grd ’27 kicked things off for the Bulldogs, picking things up right where they left off. She finished with an 8.64-second clocking in the 60m hurdles, putting her right outside of her own school record set last week. Kyra Pretre ’24 and Claire Archer ’26 kept the pace up in the mile, taking first and second place with 4:52.83 and 4:53.82 efforts, respectively. Hebe Chadwick ’27 also set a PR in the 3000m with a 9:41.32 effort that placed her fifth. Among other strong performers were the Guerrier twins, with Gloria ’27 taking fourth at 55.86 in the 400m and Victoria ’27 taking second at 1:15.67 in the 500m. Fellow first-year Kalista Villatoro ’27 took fourth in the 800m with a finish of 2:13.10.

While most of the Bulldogs were in Boston, a few of their teammates, including Sean Kay ’24, Kenan Pala ’26 and Varun Oberai ’25, traveled to Columbia’s Dr. Sander Invitational Columbia Challenge, where Kay and Pala established PR’s and all three finished within the top eight of 19 runners.

Yale looks to continue to build upon strong performances next weekend when they return to Boston for the second of three straight weeks to compete at both Harvard’s Crimson Elite and Boston University’s Bruce Lehane Scarlet and White Invitational.

“We continue to focus on improving Heps through getting our athletes the training and experience they need,” head coach David Shoehalter wrote to the News. “This weekend, most of the team will head to Boston University, but we’re sending the men’s throwers to Harvard where they’ll benefit from better facilities. Additionally, after two straight weekends of competition, the women’s middle and long distance squads will take the weekend off to rest.”

After Friday, Feb. 2 at Harvard’s Crimson Elite and Saturday, Feb. 3 at Boston University’s Scarlet and White Invitational, the team will head back to BU for a two-day meet on Friday, Feb. 9 through Saturday, Feb. 10 for the David Hemery Valentine Invitational.

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After six weeks of rest, the Bulldogs came out of the gates hungry, snatching eight gold medals in the men’s competition and five in the women’s. Overall, the men’s team finished in first place with a landslide victory of 84 points to Columbia’s 44 and Dartmouth’s 39. The women’s team took home second in a tighter field, earning 59 points compared to Dartmouth’s 70 and Columbia’s 52.

“We came away with two very solid performances,” head coach David Shoehalter wrote to the News regarding his teams’ overall performances. “Never took our foot off the accelerator from the first event to the final relay. There is still a good deal of room for improvement from both the men and women. It’s exciting to beat our Ivy rivals.”  

In the men’s competition, the throwers as usual started off strong for the Bulldogs, with captain Matt Appel ’24 finishing first place in the weight throw with a distance of 19.34m, just ahead of teammate Nolan Recker ’26 who threw a 19.23m PR that earned him second place. Following Appel and Recker in the field events was Isiah Udofia ’26, placing second in the long jump with a PR of 7.23m.

The men’s team performed just as impressively on the track, where Leo Brewer ’25 earned first in the mile with a 4:10 finish, Owen Karas ’26 earned first in the 800m with a 1:54.34 finish, and Kit Colson ’25 earned first in both the 60m and 200m finishing in 6.87 seconds and 21.99 seconds, respectively. 

The Bulldogs also won the 4x400m and 4x800m relays with teams comprised of Amare Fields ’27, Kenan Pala ’26, Tanish Chettiar ’26 and Austin Montini ’25 as well as Jacob Kao ’25, Simon Jupp ’25, Colin Quinn ’27 and Andrew Farr ’26.

Appel was pleased with his team’s strong performance.

“Much like our season opener in December, we had a very strong meet,” Appel wrote to the News. “The score was a total team effort and a result of both our guys beating their guys and creating an environment that was difficult to compete in by being the loudest group in the Cage. I think it reassured us that we can compete at a much higher level than last year as long as we keep stacking weeks leading up to indoor HEPS.”

Appel, who also finished second in the shot put, added that this was hopefully the last time he wouldn’t finish atop the shot put among Ivy League competitors.

On the women’s side of events, the Bulldogs again had many strong finishes. Among the most impressive was Lucija Grd ’27 setting a school record in the 60m hurdles with an 8.56 second finish. Grd’s finish was the second school record set by a first year on the women’s team this season, only two meets in.

Additionally, Victoria Guerrier ’27 took home gold in the 400m with a 56.84m finish, joining her sister Gloria Guerrier ’27 among the ranks of gold medal holders this season. 

Among the more experienced team members, Maria Leskovec ’24 took first in the weight throw with an 18.11m PR and Eileen Yang ’24 took first in pole vault with a 3.80m leap. 

Finally, the 4x400m team also took home first place 3:48.01, comprised of Mira Thakur ’24, Molly Harding ’26, Bridget Vitu ’25 and Gloria Guerrier. This was Gloria Guerrier’s second gold medal of the season, having taken gold in the 500m dash with a school record in the first meet of the season.

“As our indoor opener in December showcased, we have seen some huge improvements on the women’s side already from our veterans and have added some fire power from a talented incoming class,” women’s coach Taryn Sheehan wrote to the News.

The Bulldogs will compete next at UMass Lowell’s River Hawk Invitational in Boston, Mass. on Jan. 26.

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Having last competed on Dec. 9 in their first meet of the 2023–24 season thus far — fittingly dubbed the “Yale Season Opener” — the Bulldogs look to bring their last six weeks of training into their first meet of 2024 and pick up ahead of where they left off.

“We ended in a great place before winter break, as everyone was in shape and I would hope strongly encouraged about the season to come,” women’s captain Isabella Bergloff ’24 wrote to the News. “The team got some much needed rest while staying vigilant in our training, and we’ve had two weeks of good work on campus coming into the YDC this weekend.”

On the women’s side of events, the team looks to continue its already-hot start to the season. Last time the Bulldogs competed in Coxe Cage, first year Gloria Guerrier ’27 set a school record in the 500-meter dash in her first-ever meet as a Bulldog. Running an impressive 1:12.41, she finished just ahead of her sister Victoria Guerrier ’27, who finished at 1:13.56. Iris Bergman ’25 also took first place in the mile with a time of 5:06.63, and Claire Archer ’26 won the 3000-meter with a time of 9:38.40. In the field events, team captain Bergloff took home first place in the weight throw with a PR of 17.91 meters, Emma Peretti ’27 took home first place in her first ever collegiate shot put competition with a throw of 12.52 meters, and Alexandra Bonn ’27 took home first place in her first ever collegiate triple jump with a distance of 11.63 meters.

Bergloff gives her team a good chance to take first this weekend if they keep this level of performance up.

“Already at our first meet one of our first year sprinters, Gloria Guerrier, broke the school record in the 500m, and we had many other performances that stepped into our top-10 all-time leaderboard,” Bergloff wrote to the News. “If we go out and compete like we did a month ago, we will be in a great position to win this meet, and I think everyone should be really excited about that!”

On the men’s side of events, the Bulldogs performed similarly well last month in Coxe Cage. Men’s captain Matt Appel ’24 continued his consistent impressive performance from last spring, taking first in the weight throw with a distance of 19.75 meters, placing him second all-time on Yale’s indoor list. Isiah Udofia ’26 took home first in the long jump with a 6.75 meter leap, and Brian Di Bassinga ’26 took first in the triple jump with leaps spanning 14.95 meters. On the track, Cristian Pereira ’25 took first in the 60 meter with a 6.93-second blitz, and Aaron Miller ’25 took first in the 300-meter with a 34.65-second PR.

According to Appel, the team has come off break feeling bigger, faster and stronger, and being at home in Coxe Cage certainly does not hurt.

“I think a lot of people used break as a time to get some training in with an added emphasis on recovery that we may not have the time to do here. Overall I expect it to be a net positive for the group,” Appel wrote to the News when questioned about training over winter break. “Personally I love competing at Coxe Cage. It’s nice to be able to get friends and family to come out to support us.” 

He added that the throws circle at Coxe Cage is concrete, which he “prefer[s] to most other indoor venues that have wood rings.” 

Meanwhile, while the athletes compete inside the comforts of a large indoor facility, it will still be frigid outside, affecting the training of some distance athletes. 

According to head coach David Shoehalter, while the athletes competing in field events and sprints mostly remain unaffected, middle- and long-distance athletes are braving the chilly temperatures.

“The weather definitely affects the way we train,” Shoehalter wrote to the News. “Most of our sprinters, jumpers, hurdlers and throwers are inside all the time at this time of the year. But the middle distance and distance runners have to put in mileage and that can really only occur outdoors. They are a tough group and they bundle up and put in the work no matter the conditions.”

Included in this group is Sean Kay ’24, the 2023 men’s cross country team captain who last ran in the NCAA National Championships on Saturday, Nov. 18. It’s been since Friday, Nov. 10, since Kay and his fellow cross country to indoor track and field converts on the men’s and women’s teams last competed.

Having taken off the first meet of the indoor season to continue to rest and train for the new season ahead of them, Kay says his team is looking to pick up a step ahead of where they left off last and continue to go from there.

“This is the opener for many of our guys and so we’re looking to put our best foot forward against some Ivy League competition,” Kay wrote to the News. “With such a long season, of course we hope to have our best performances at the end of the season, but I know guys are looking to run some personal bests this weekend that I know they’ll be able to build upon.”

After this weekend’s meet, the team will compete next at UMass Lowell’s River Hawk Invitational in Boston, MA on Friday, Jan. 26 and Saturday, Jan. 27.

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For over 15 years, Yale has started their indoor season at home, hosting a small contingent of local Connecticut teams in Coxe Cage, with this year’s lineup consisting of Yale, Sacred Heart University and Quinnipiac University. For Yale, this meet provides the opportunity for many of the athletes to get their first taste of competition since the previous spring.

“With preseason training beginning on Sept. 7, this meet provides our athletes with the opportunity to put on a uniform and compete in a meet situation, as most of our athletes have not competed since May,” head coach David Shoehalter explained to the News. “In addition, developing habits and routines for meet days as well as the broader season kicks off today, which is an important aspect of competing. It also provides us coaches with the opportunity to get a diagnostic and gives us something to focus on between now and January.”

Based on last season as well as preseason training, Shoehalter said that, in particular, he expects his throws group to be the team’s strength. Both teams are led by a thrower, with Matt Appel ’24 serving as the men’s team captain and Bella Bergloff ’24 serving as the women’s team captain. In addition to these two, Shoehalter also highlighted Chris Ward ’24, Nolan Recker ’26, and Maria Leskovec ’24 as throwers who have had a great summer and fall of training.

In addition to the throwers, Shoehalter also mentioned the men’s team sprints group, particularly James Grindle ’25, Jacob Kao ’25 and Aaron Miller ’25 as athletes to look out for early on in the season based on their preseason performances.

While Shoehalter commented on specific groups he expects to have big performances, women’s team captain Bergloff said she expects a strong performance across the board.

“This weekend is going to be really exciting for the team because it will be a small meet, giving us the opportunity to showcase all of the work we’ve put in this off-season and dominate without the pressure of competing against other Ivy teams,” Bergloff wrote to the News. “We have a really cohesive group this year and have sort of refocused our intentions, and I think throughout this season we will be pushing each other to individually reach our potential to have our best season yet!”

While the athletes who have been training with Coach Shoehalter all fall will make their debut on Saturday, this weekend will not mark the return of the men’s and women’s cross country teams to competition. Having finished their seasons only a month ago, the distance runners are resting before building their mileage back up and opening their season later on.

However, although they will not be joining the broader track and field teams for competition quite yet, men’s cross country captain Sean Kay ’24 told the News that the team’s camaraderie development is already well underway.

“In terms of merging with the broader track team, this is where the fun really starts,” Kay wrote to the News. “We have a great captain this year for Track in Matt Appel who has gone out of his way to make the XC team feel included, while also respecting the fact that we were competing all fall in a different sport. This merger definitely brings new life to the team, I think, and being able to see other event groups working just as hard is always a good sign. We have done a really good job of bridging this gap to the point where we see each other as not only members of the same team, but also friends off the track.”

After this weekend, Yale’s track and field teams will take some time off from competition over the holiday, returning to Coxe Cage on Jan. 20 to compete against Columbia and Dartmouth in New Haven.

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Yale Track and Field will kick off their indoor season at home in New Haven on Saturday, Dec. 9, at Yale’s Coxe Cage, which was named after Eli hammer thrower Charles Edmund Coxe, class of 1893. Coxe allegedly donated the $300,000 — approximately $10 million today — needed to build the facility.

“Our goals this season as a team are very simple, to finish as high as we can at indoor and outdoor HEPS,” Matt Appel ’24, one of the men’s team’s star throwers last year, wrote to the News. “I don’t really feel that it’s fair to name certain returners or newcomers as people to look out for because we’ve all been putting in a lot of work as a team, and everyone has made leaps. What I will say is that I feel the team is much more bought in than last year and I’m hoping that translates into better performances when it matters. I think the meet Dec. 9 will be a good checkpoint to see where we’re at as a team and I think we’ll be pretty happy with the results.”

Last season, the men’s and women’s teams left room for improvement, with both teams finishing at the bottom of the pack at the Heptagonal Indoor Track & Field Championships — or HEPS — indoor and outdoor track and field championships. However, that is not to say that the teams lacked bright spots.

On the men’s side of events, the team has two experienced throwers returning. Appel and Chris Ward ’24, who both had impressive seasons last year, will return for a final year. Appel was on the podium nearly all season, setting a school record in the discus with 58.38 meters in one of the last meets of the outdoor season. Ward improved all season long to accompany him on many podium appearances toward the end of the indoor season and then much of the outdoor season.

Additionally, Brian Di Bassinga ’26 will return to the Bulldogs’ jumping squad, having nearly set a school record in the triple jump in one of his first meets as a first year last season. On the track side of the competition, leading sprinters James Grindle ’25 and Jacob Kao ’25 will return for the Bulldogs, and distance runners Kay and Owen Karas ’26 are coming off impressive cross country seasons to lead the Bulldogs’ distance squad.

The women’s team will also have some prominent returners, although they are coming off the loss of last year’s captain and mid-distance star Samantha Friborg ’23.

“We have some great athletes in our sprints, hurdles, jumps, and throws that have been working hard this fall.” said head women’s Cross Country coach Taryn Sheehan. “We expect to make some major contributions this spring.” 

In the field events, the women’s team also has two experienced throwers returning to the lineup in Bella Bergloff ’24 and Kalei Memmer ’25, both of whom frequently appeared on the podium for the Bulldogs. Kiera Suh ’26 will return to lead the Bulldogs’ jumping squad, having notched many impressive finishes in her first year.

On the track, Claire Archer ’26, Kyra Pretre ’24 and Kathryn Rodrigues ’24 are all coming off successful cross country seasons and figure as likely candidates to lead the distance squad for the Bulldogs. Sydney McCord ’24 also returns to the sprint squad after many strong finishes last year, and pole vaulter Eileen Yang ’24 looks to build on strong finishes last season for the team as well.

Meanwhile, the team is looking forward to using this indoor season to prepare for the championships in May.

“Often, we use indoors as a way to get back to some fundamental parts of training and use it as a way to ultimately prepare ourselves to run the best in May when the championship part of the outdoor season takes place.” said Sheehan. “This is a great chance to learn how to be great racers in challenging tight indoor race settings, especially in the shorter events.” 

The News spoke to Lucus Mylon ’27 on how he thinks the preseason will help the team prepare to be a formidable competitor this year in the indoor and outdoor seasons.

“Preseason we are really building and preparing ourselves for the season,” Mylon said. “Paying attention to the small details like running form, stability, injury prevention so that we make sure we have a good healthy season. It’s still very early but coaches are keeping us motivated and giving us individual attention for our own minor issues and things to improve upon.” 

The Bulldogs have their season opener next Saturday, Dec. 9, in Coxe Cage.

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The teams had strong showings, both finishing second out of 11 in their respective packs. Each team featured a plethora of new faces and claimed the overall individual winner in its respective competition. The Bulldogs will return to race on the same course later this fall for the Ivy League Championships.

“The young guys ran really well in their first 8K on a really tough course in challenging conditions,” men’s team captain Sean Kay ’24 wrote to the News. “It was inspiring to see them step up to the plate and deliver. We go back to the same course for Ivy League Championships and hopefully we can bring some new faces back to the course in a couple of weeks.”

In the men’s 8K, the Bulldogs had many baby Bulldogs step up to the plate. The team was led by first year Daegan Cutter ’27, who took home first overall with a time of 25:14. Behind Cutter were Brian Gamble ’27, who took fourth with a time of 25:22; Alex Mader ’26, who took eighth with a time of 25:52; Will Sheehy ’26, who placed 11th with a time of 25:58; and Caden Montini ’27, who placed 13th  with a time of 26:31.

Cutter, notching his first collegiate win in only his second race, was also the Bulldog’s fifth runner in the first meet of the season, which featured all of the Bulldogs’ upperclassmen. Hailing from San Anselmo, California, Cutter said he received initial interest from Yale when he ran a 14:18 3-mile, a 4:46 mile, and a 15:16 5K — a 4:55 mile pace — on a hilly course during his senior year. Cutter said he was attracted to the team’s culture and obvious camaraderie.

“I got into running because I wanted to do a fall sport my freshman year of high school,” Cutter wrote to the News when asked what has sustained his interest in running over his career. “The sports that didn’t require any experience were football and cross country, and I was 5-foot-4 and 100 pounds, so cross country it was. I became increasingly close with my teammates and motivated to get better. Running became a place to escape from the real world and just be with my friends, either coasting along or pushing ourselves to our limits depending on the day.”

On the women’s side of events, the Bulldogs also lay claim to the overall champion, Linde Fonville ’26, who ran the 5K in 18:03. This gave her a 31-second win over the second-place runner, teammate Hebe Chadwick ’27, who finished the 5K in 18:34. The first non-Bulldog came in at 18:57, nearly one minute slower than the first-place Fonville. Rounding out the top five for the Bulldogs were Daniella Henderson ’27 in 11th with a time of 19:23, Anna Chamberlin ’26 in 14th with a time of 19:30, and Priya Gangadharan ’27 in 25th with a time of 20:12.

Women’s head coach Sheehan praised her first and second finishers.

“Linde Fonville did a fantastic job of setting the pace and it was great seeing Hebe Chadwick follow suit in her opening race for the team,” Sheehan wrote to the News. “We also had a number of personal bests which is encouraging this early in the season.”

The Bulldogs race next at the Paul Short Run in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, this Saturday, Sept. 30.

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