McDonnell, Garry Win Individual Events
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.—This Saturday concluded the first day of the ECAC Championships, hosted by Harvard in Cambridge, Mass. Eight Bulldogs competed at the meet. In all, the day yielded six personal bests, resulting in one of the best collective results this season.
The highlight of Saturday came during the 800-meter run, when junior Shannon McDonnell came within seconds of the school record. She won the event with her personal-best time of 2:06.83, and qualified to compete in the final round of the event tomorrow.
A second first-place finish came from senior captain Kira Garry in the 5,000-meter run. Garry's personal best allowed her to beat out 22 other runners. Her time of 16:27.53 is the third-fastest time ever run at Yale.
In the mile run, sophomore Emily Waligurski earned a personal best and took seventh place. Her time of 4:50.01 was a seven second improvement over her previous mark. She overcame more than 20 competitors to run the eighth best time on Yale's top-10 lists. She will continue on to compete in the finals tomorrow.
Junior Grace Brittan took eighth in the 1,000-meter run, qualifying for the final round of the event tomorrow. Her time of 2:50.16 was the fifth-fastest time ever run at Yale, as well as a personal best.
Senior Catherine Shih walked away with a significant personal best in the pole vault. By clearing a height of 3.65m (11-11.75), she takes the fourth spot on Yale's top-10 lists. She took eleventh overall.
In the 60-meter dash, junior Sydney Cureton ran a time of 7.74 to take 17th. Meanwhile in the 60-meter hurdles, junior Mackenzie Mathews followed up her record-breaking performance last weekend with a time of 8.87 (18th).
Finally, a team of four freshmen and sophomores ran the fifth-fastest time in the 4x800-meter relay in Yale history. Freshman Melissa Fairchild, sophomore Delaney FitzPatrick, sophomore Frances Schmiede and freshman Katherine Raphael earned a time of 8:55.6, placing sixth overall in a field of 21 squads.
The meet will continue tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. with the finals rounds of many events. For live stats and a schedule of events, please see here.
Report by Maria Seravalli '16, Yale Sports Publicity
