CAMBRIDGE, U.K. -- The Yale men and women's track and field teams took victory along with their Harvard teammates at the Harvard-Yale-Oxford-Cambridge meet on Wednesday. The culmination of a whirlwind trip across the Atlantic, along with an entire season of hard work, Wednesday's action was both a celebration of the Bulldogs' successes this year and a unique opportunity to shine against their transatlantic rivals. 

Unsurprisingly, the athletes rose to the occasion. While there were strong performances across many events, what stood out was the level of competitive energy on display from the entire Harvard-Yale team. Ten weeks ago, the two successfully defended home turf as Oxford and Cambridge's combined "Achilles" team proved no match for them in their duel in Cambridge, Mass. The Achilles squad, no doubt eager to take a victory of their own on UK soil, stepped their performances up a notch Wednesday. The result was a thrilling day of action in which the team battle came down to the very final events. 

The Bulldogs scored an early victory in the men's long jump thanks to Isiah Udofia, who came close to his PR with a strong 7.16m leap. Riding that momentum was Abrianna Barrett, whose 1.55m effort scored her a second high jump win of the transatlantic trip after also emerging victorious against Birmingham, Penn and Cornell on Saturday. In the women's 400m hurdles, Peyton Parker came close to delivering a victory of her own as she finished second in 1:06.20. The Bulldogs soon returned to winning ways, however, after Winslow Atkeson cruised across the line in the 2000m steeplechase, running 6:07.34 after some tactical running early on. Even more dominant were the men's discus throwers, with Yale going 1-2-3 thanks to Matt Appel, Chris Ward and Nolan Recker's respective throws of 52.83m, 48.12m and 46.56m. Ward earned himself another second place in the shot put later on after throwing 16.28m, while Recker's earlier 48.74m in the hammer throw was good enough for fourth behind teammate Jake Sun's 51.50m effort in third. Elsewhere in the field events, Bharathi Subbiah came second in the women's triple jump after an 11.34m leap. 

Back on the track, the Bulldogs were in for some similarly impressive showings. Claire Archer placed fourth in the women's 5000m, running 17:18.12. Kyra Pretre went in the women's 2000m steeplechase, placing second in 7:02.55. Also finishing second was Drake Prince in the men's 800m ahead of teammate Calvin Katz, with the pair running 1:54.44 and 1:57.84 respectively. Aaron Miller and Molly Harding were both pushed hard by strong 400m fields, with Miller's 48.56 securing him third in the men's event and Harding's 58.56 also placing her third in the women's event. Both would be called upon later in the relays. As would be Jacob Kao, who was third across the line in the men's 200m thanks to a 21.95 clocking. In the women's 800m, despite finishing a close second, Carmel Fitzgibbon had one of the performances of the day for the Bulldogs as she ran a huge negative split to shatter her PR, along with the 2:10 barrier, on her way to a 2:08.89. 

By far the most exciting moments of the day came right at the end, in the relays. On the women's side, the team scores had been looking tight throughout the day but Harvard and Yale were able to ease away towards the competition's close thanks to dominant wins in both the 4 x 100m and 4 x 400m. Both Harding and Parker formed part of the 4 x 400m team, which coasted to victory by a massive 13 seconds in 3:49.33. Those two victories meant that the women's team standings finished 12-7 in Harvard and Yale's favor. On the men's side, things were even closer. After recording wins in the 800m and the 5000m it was Achilles who held a 9-8 lead going into the final two events. However, the Bulldogs stepped up when it mattered most, with Kit Colson, Kao and James Grindle contributing to a nailbiting 4 x 100m victory in a fantastic time of 41.01. Colson had earlier registered a new 28.42m PR in the men's javelin, but showed that he's still a sprinter at heart with a phenomenal lead-off leg. In the 4 x 400m, with the score at 9-9, Kao and Miller combined to hit the walk off home run for Yale, as their team cruised to victory in 3:12.58 to win the match 10-9.

Despite a breathless day of action, the Bulldogs' tour isn't quite over just yet. A banquet awaits in Cambridge this evening alongside their Harvard teammates and Achilles rivals, before a brief trip to London Thursday to round out the trip. Securing both team victories today was important, but perhaps even more so were the countless new experiences and friends the athletes have formed during their stay in the UK. The entire team will be looking forward to a well-earned rest upon their arrival back on the east coast, before quickly ramping up their preparations for next season. Expect the Bulldogs to be back stronger than ever in 2024.