Weekly Sports Roundup (1/28–2/3)

Last week was unusually difficult for the Bulldogs, with losses and disappointing performances across the board. Still, the women's track and field team stood out among Yale's sports teams after it left the two-day unscored Geigengack Invitational with a strong showing in multiple events. On the first day of the meet, Jennifer Donnelly ’13 posted a 17:31.23 time in the 5,000-meter run, a personal best that captured the first-place spot in the event and qualifies Donnelly to compete in the ECAC Championships. Emily Cable ’15 will also compete in the championships this spring for her second-place finish in the 400-meter dash, in which she posted a time of 56.19 and beat a Yale record set in 1982.

In other sports news this week (information from Yale Sports Publicity):

Men's Track and Field

The men's team also had a strong showing at the Geigengack Invitational. Despite not entering any runners in the 5,000-meter run this season, Yalies took the top-five spots in the event this weekend, with Kevin Lunn ’13 leading the pack with his time of 14:29.18. All five athletes set personal bests in the event, and the top two qualified for the IC4A meet later this season. On day two, Timothy Hillas ’13 earned first place in the 3,000-meter run for his 8:11.35 finish, and James Shirvell ’14 also finished on top of the 1,000-meter run with a time of 2:26.08.

Men's Ice Hockey

No. 7/8 Yale saw mixed results last week. Though the team was able to defeat Princeton 4–2 on Friday, the Bulldogs (13–6–3, 9–5–1 ECAC) fell 6–2 to No. 2 Quinnipiac on Saturday. The team heads to Providence to face Brown for the second time this season on Saturday. 

Women's Tennis

The No. 24 Bulldogs faced three different schools, two of which were ranked, last week—one of the most eventful of the season so far. Though the women's tennis team fell 4–1 to No. 25 Vanderbilt at the ITA Kick-Off Finals, the team rebounded from the loss and went on to defeat Florida Invitational 6–1 on Friday and No. 37 Arkansas 4–3 on Sunday. The Bulldogs head to Columbia next weekend.

Women's Fencing

The Elis had a strong performance on Saturday, when they defeated Vassar 19–8, Drew 24–3 and Queens 23–4. The team went on to lose 12–15 against Sacred Heart. All in all, the Bulldogs head to this year's Ivy League Championships at Harvard this weekend in good shape.

Men's Fencing

The men's team defeated Drew 22–5 and Vassar 17–10 in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. on Saturday. Despite the wins, the team dropped a 13–14 heartbreaker against Sacred Heart at the meet—posting the same verdict as in a January 19 match at Payne Whitney Gymnasium. The Bulldogs head to Harvard this weekend for this year's Ivy League Championships.

Men's Squash

The Bulldogs (9–2, 3–1 Ivy) saw their first Ivy loss last week, when they fell 6–3 to No. 1 Princeton. But the No. 4 men's squash team recovered from the loss when they went on to defeat No. 12 Penn 6–3 on Sunday. The Bulldogs host No. 18 Brown on Wednesday.

Women's Ice Hockey

After a strong showing against Colgate last weekend, the Bulldogs (4–17–1, 3–11–1 ECAC) posted a disappointing performance against Princeton on Friday, losing 3–1. The Bulldogs went on to a 2–2 tie against Quinnipiac on Saturday, and head to Harvard next weekend to face the No. 3 Crimson. 

Women's Squash

It seems the women's squash team had trouble recovering from their 5–4 loss against No. 4 Trinity on January 23. The No. 5 Bulldogs (9–3, 2–2 Ivy) lost 5–4 against No. 1 Princeton on Saturday and fell 7–2 to No. 3 Penn on Sunday. Next weekend, they face off against No. 9 Brown and No. 8 Dartmouth.

Men's Basketball

The Bulldogs (7–14, 1–3 Ivy) saw two conference defeats this weekend: 67–64 against Harvard and 71–62 against Dartmouth. Despite the team's weak overall performance, Matt Townsend ’15 made a career-high 16 points against the Big Green on Saturday. 

Women's Basketball

The women's team (6–12, 1–3 Ivy), meanwhile, suffered even worse defeats against Harvard and Dartmouth, which has not beaten Yale since 2009, this weekend. The Bulldogs fell 67–54 to the Crimson on Friday and 63–48 against the Big Green on Saturday. Although the game against Dartmouth eventually ended in a loss, Sarah Halejian ’15 scored all 15 of her points in the second half, putting up a tough fight right to the end. 

Women's Gymnastics

The Bulldogs broke 190 points for the first time this season on Sunday, when they scored 191.225 at a meet against the University of New Hampshire and George Washington University. Despite their season-high score, the women's gymnastics team finished third at the meet, with UNH scoring 195.425 and GW scoring 194.750. 

Women's Swimming and Diving

It was a rough week for the women's swimming and diving team, who posted their poorest scores of the season at the Harvard-Yale-Princeton tri-meet. The Bulldogs finished day one trailing behind the other schools, and the difference in points only grew in the second day. In the end, Harvard and Princeton defeat Yale 209–89 and 197–103, respectively.

Men's Swimming and Diving

The men's team posted even worse results at the Harvard-Yale-Princeton tri-meet. The Bulldogs were over 100 points behind both Harvard and Princeton at the end of the first day, and finished the meet in even worse shape. Harvard won 292–61 and Princeton went 290–63 against Yale.