Men's track a dominant first, women fall to third at H-Y-Ps

The Harvard-Yale-Princeton rivalry is always intense, but it is not often that the Crimson, Bulldogs, and Tigers go head to head to head.

On Saturday the track teams representing what U.S. News and World Report designated the second and third-ranked schools of the nation met the creme de la creme in Jadwin Gym.

In this weekend's H-Y-Ps both the men and women captured wins in a variety of events. The men once again proved their dominance over Ivy League competition, breaking personal and meet records alike in their substantial victory.

The women's competition was the mirror image. Whereas the Harvard men came in third, the Harvard women, who are ranked sixth in the national USTCA Power rankings, took the victory while the Bulldogs had to settle with second best in both competitions.

It was a big day for freshmen.

One of the many highlights of the afternoon came when Josh McCaughey shattered the 18 year old H-Y-P record in the shot put. Throwing once inch further than Dave Pellegrini's record of 67 feet six and three-quarters inches, set in 1981, McCaughey was obviously thrilled.

McCaughey said that he had been "looking for a big throw all season. This is the culmination of a lot of hard work and help from coach Samara."

His throw should hold up to the provisional qualifying distance for the NCAA Championships in March.

Freshman Rob Hulick also took a win in the 800 meter run of his first H-Y-P.

"I apprehensive running against a guy like Don Carson from Yale, one of the better half-milers in the Ivy League, but I was excited to be part of such an intense rivalry at the collegiate level," said Hulick.

Also breaking records was senior Tensai Asfaw. Although his times were neither personal nor meet records, his wins in both the mile and the 3000 were his first ever in Jadwin Gym. It was also the first time the senior has ever won two events in one meet.

Also raking in points for the Tigers was senior Ryan Smith, who finished first in the 500.

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Smith's finish in the 4x800 relay avenged a long-time personal rivalry. In the last leg of the relay he faced Barros of Yale, who had beaten him at the indoor Heps last year.

After sophomore David Dean made up a three second deficit in the third leg, Smith went on to close another three seconds and overtake the Bulldogs.

"Going into the last leg of the relay I tried not to think too much about Barros," Smith said. "We have had a history . . . but my job was to basically try to get a win for the team. I think all of the credit should go to the other three guys, though. They really raced well, especially considering they're all underclassmen, and set me up into a great position to finish the race."

In the women's competition Lauren Simmons continued to fare well. The junior took first in the 800 with a time of 2:11:08. Simmons also ran the 4x400 relay which took second place to Harvard.

"Everyone ran well, but we can run better," said Simmons. "Harvard's team is really good, but we have run times that are close to them.

"Everyone is performing well, Simmons said. "I hope we can put it together as a team."

Senior Rebecca Haarlow also came away with an impressive 39-11.5 triple jump, giving the Tigers a win in that event. Haarlow also felt the excitement of this historic rivalry.

"I was determined going into the triple jump. I wanted to win it to help the team. The HYP meet holds so much tradition, and athletes seem particularly competitive at this meet. For this reason, beating Harvard and Yale always feels good."

Senior Khalila Thomas also set a new personal record with her throw of 43-4.5 in the shot put.

The next few weeks will be tremendously important for both the men's and women's squads. Both teams will compete again this weekend in Jadwin as they host the Princeton Invitational.