STORRS, Conn. -- The Yale women's track and field team had a very successful first meet as a whole team Saturday at the UConn Dog Fight Invitational. There were multiple first-place finishes by the Bulldogs, and the team placed second overall behind UConn in the team score with 168 points. Senior captain Emma Vasen set a school record in the hammer throw.

"For the large majority of our team this was our first outdoor meet since 2019," said David Shoehalter, Yale's Mark T. Young '68 Director of Cross Country and Track and Field. "It was great to get a meet under our belts and to get back into a competitive mode where each of the women are contributing to our team performance."

Starting off the day was the women's hammer throw, where Vasen threw a new school record distance of 55.22m to place fourth in the competition. The previous record of 53.62m was set in 1998 by Diane Potkay '00. Sophomore Maria Leskovec also threw a personal record of 46.38m to place eighth in the event.

The first event on the track was the women's 3k. Despite the windy conditions, the Bulldogs were able to push through and place well. First year Lily Potthast took an early lead in the race and came away with her first collegiate win in a time of 10:12.24. Sophomore Kathryn Rodrigues followed closely behind her to take third in 10:13.97. Shortly after, the women's 4x100m team of seniors Ava Thomas, Libby McMahon, Aliya Boshnak and Sophie Isom took second in the competition with a time of 47.00 seconds. McMahon later won both the 100m and 200m individual events. Joining her in the 200m, Ella Mainwaring Foster earned fourth place with a time of 25.65. In the 1500m, junior star Samantha Friborg took the lead from the gun and cruised to victory in a time of 4:29.72. Her time is currently ninth in the Ivy League.

The discus throw featured another strong performance by Vasen, as she threw a personal record of 45.32m to earn second place. First year Violette Perry took third in the event with a huge personal record of 44.68m. Her previous best was 39.07m from the Raleigh Relays last weekend. Vasen competed for a third time in the shot put, scoring four points for the team in that event. In the long jump, sophomore Sydney Kunkler scored three points for the Bulldogs with a jump of 5.38m. Unsurprisingly, Eileen Yang had another stellar performance in the pole vault, as she reached a height of 3.78m and scored eight points for the team with her second-place finish.

In the 400m race, first year Iris Bergman proved that her middle distance speed can be an asset in the sprinting events. She won the race with a time of 58.03. The 800m race featured many of Yale's middle distance runners, and they worked together to claim a great number of team points. Sophomore Kyra Pretre placed second overall with a time of 2:16.99, and senior Kosana Weir was right behind her with a third-place finish. In the following event, senior Addison Coy took first place in the 400m hurdles with a time of 1:00.57. She effortlessly cleared the hurdles and has proven that she is ready for the greater competition in the meets that will follow.

The day concluded with the 4x400m relays, and the Bulldogs made a statement in the competitive event. Yale's "A" team consisting of Isom, Friborg, Bergman and Foster won the competition with a time of 3:50.22. Yale's "B" team of Pretre, sophomore Mira Thakur, first year Bridget Vitu and first year Arielle Moore took fourth overall in the meet.

Saturday's opener featured a host of strong performances, and it will be exciting to see how much improvement occurs as the outdoor season progresses. The Bulldogs will be back in action next weekend at home against Harvard on Saturday Apr. 9.

Full Results