NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Yale men's track and field team has elected Ekrem Ayhan its Captain for the 2020-2021 track and field seasons. Ayhan, a New Jersey native, was the team's MVP in the 2018-2019 season before being sidelined by injury this year – his election is testament to the impact and leadership he has continued to show, especially within the sprint squad, off the track.
Ayhan came into Yale as a highly rated recruit, with PRs of 22.10s and 48.13s in the 200m and 400m respectively. He also won the New Jersey Prep State 400m dash four times, the 200m dash three times, and competed at the New Balance Nationals four times during his high school career. And he did not disappoint: in his first year, he improved his 400m PR to 48.11 in the Ivy League Outdoor Heptagonal Championships, scoring with a sixth-place finish and demonstrating his ability to perform under pressure.
However, Ayhan was not only elected for his natural talent – he is widely recognized as one of the hardest-working individuals on the team. He returned as a sophomore having spent the summer focusing on the fundamentals of sprinting: his start, his strength and his form. This dedication bore fruits for the team throughout the indoor and outdoor seasons. He ran personal bests in every distance: 7.19s in the 60m, 10.99s in the 100m, 21.48s in the 200m and 47.85s in the 400m. More important, though, was his consistent excellence. He finished sixth in the 400m at the Ivy League Indoor Championships and scored in every meet in the indoor season.
Outdoors, in 2019 he ascended to a new level of speed under pressure. At the Ivy League Outdoor Championships he finished fifth in the 200m, fourth in the 400m, second in the 4x100m and third in the 4x400m. And he did not stop there. He proceeded to compete in the IC4A Championships before flying to the UK to lead the HYOC team. As all his fellow Bulldogs were relaxing after a long season, he traveled to his home in Turkey and began training once again, this time with the national team. He was then part of the national record-breaking Turkish 4x400m relay team at the U23 IAAF World Championships.
The immense effort of consistently pushing the limit for over nine months took its toll, unfortunately, and Ayhan's sacrifice for the team and the university as a sophomore was followed by a string of injuries as a junior. This did not stop him from making an impact on the team, however. Not only are the roots of the whole team's reinvigorated culture found in his efforts last spring, his guidance and quiet leadership of the sprint squad from track-side was pivotal in their success indoors.
David Shoehalter, Yale's Mark T. Young '68 Director of Track and Field and Cross Country, recognized this.
"Ekrem has been a team leader from his first day in the program," said Shoehalter. "He is a hard-working leader who has led both on and off the track. In 2019 he was our team MVP. In 2020 he had his season cut short by injury, yet still showed up to every team practice to support his teammates and worked tirelessly in rehab. I look forward to working closely with him as we move into the 2020–21 seasons."
Ayhan himself recognizes the impact this year's captain, Kyle Macauley, has had on the program, but also that the team cannot afford to stop looking for ways to improve – especially when faced with the challenges of 2020:
"I have huge shoes to fill from last year, Kyle was an incredible captain. From keeping the men's squad organized and performing at a very high level to integrating the men's and women's team more, there are many things I would like to continue to focus on even with him gone. We have a highly talented squad across the board from SJT to distance. That gives us all a huge opportunity and responsibility to live up to our potential and be as successful as we can come Heps, and I am confident that we will. With everything going on in the world at the moment, I do expect next season to come with a unique set of challenges, but I am nonetheless excited and ready to help lead the team through these difficult times.
Though the team is spread across the globe, it is without doubt that – having lost a precious outdoor season – they will return to campus hungrier and fitter than ever. Ayhan's ability to harness that opportunity will be the test of his leadership.
