CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Three of the Yale men's throwers competed this Friday at the Harvard-hosted Crimson Elite challenge. This competition was a chance for the Yale athletes to throw down against strong Northeastern competition and was particularly meaningful as half of the Ivy League schools had athletes entered (Brown, Dartmouth, Harvard and Yale). 
 
Overall, it was a high-quality day for the throwing corps. In the shot put the Bulldogs took gold and silver, with Matt Appel good for the victory in 17.12m. Chris Ward also highlighted his immense progression since arriving at Yale, finishing the day with a monumental personal best. Ward set a PR of 15.95m last week at the HYP meet, and this Friday shattered the 16m barrier with a 16.70m put. Appel and Ward's performances are especially noteworthy as they were both more than 50cm above the third-place finisher. First year Nolan Recker also finished within the top ten competitors with a throw of 14.81m. These sorts of performances give a lot of confidence to the rest of the squad with the Ivy League Championships only three weeks away. 
 
In the weight throw competition, Appel led the Bulldogs with a sixth-place finish and a distance of 17.68m. Recker placed 13th overall with a distance of 16.58m. Ward then rounded off the Yale throwers with a 15.90m mark. 
 
These three athletes will be back in action on Saturday at the Bruce Lehane Scarlet and White Invitational. Live results for that competition can be found at Lancer Timing and the competition will be streamed on FloTrack.