The men’s and women’s track and field teams competed in the Ivy League Outdoor Heptagonal Championships on May 7 and May 8, which were held at Yale University in New Haven, Conn. While the women’s team finished sixth and the men took seventh, individual athletes in both programs posted strong results.
Bridget McNally ’24 put on a stellar performance in the long jump, tying for second place with a jump of 5.95 meters — the second-best mark in program history for the Big Green. Despite having a challenging indoor season, McNally said she made the right technical adjustments to ensure a more successful outdoor season.
“I struggled a lot indoor and in the beginning of outdoor, especially with long jump,” McNally said. “I completely switched my air mechanics, and I then ended up [setting a personal record] at the meet before Heps. I took that momentum in Heps and ran with it.”
McNally also competed in the women’s 4x100 meter relay along with Joy Enaohwo ’25, Cori Hoffer ’24 and Danielle Pringle ’25. That squad placed fifth at the meet with a time of 45.94 seconds, setting the second-best time in this event in Big Green program history.
“We ended up PR’ing with that team by 0.5 or 0.6 seconds, which is a lot for the [4x100],”McNally said. “It was a lot about trusting in our marks. We had to trust in each other and trust that the stick would get around.”
The men’s team also saw some impressive results. In the decathlon, Karl-Oskar Pajus ’25 clinched a victory with a score of 7,196 points, making this the fourth straight Heps in which a Dartmouth athlete has won the decathlon. Pajus’s score was the ninth best in Heps history and the sixth best in Dartmouth history.
According to Pajus, the atmosphere around the team was incredibly positive after he got the top spot, with the whole team thrilled for the first-year decathlete.
“I’d never had so much energy come from the whole team before because usually track has been a bit more individual,” Pajus said. “Everyone is hyping everyone else up and the support you get is just amazing.”
On the field, Jake Dalton ’23 picked up eight of the Big Green’s 38 points after taking second in the hammer throw with a mark of 59.06 meters. His distance narrowly beat out fellow Big Green thrower, Myles Schreck ’22, whose throw was just 0.27 meters shorter, earning Schreck third place.
Dalton credited the older members of the team — the seniors and fifth-years — for creating an environment of support around the squad and setting the tone for everybody else to succeed in competition.
“[Schreck] and [fifth-year] Lily [Lockhart] are great role models, and they keep the team [on top of it],” Dalton said. “They are very supportive, and it’s great to have them around.”
Pajus said he also admired the dedication that upperclassmen put into training and into their competitions, crediting this for some of his own success this season.
“Everyone is pushing themselves so hard and the emotional and physical commitment that [the seniors] put into the track, it’s really inspirational,”' Pajus said. “It always pushes me forward to do more and try harder because I always see those guys just enjoy themselves so much doing what they like, so I’m always having fun with them.”
Both track teams will now look ahead to the New England Championships this weekend, held at Bryant University in Smithfield, R.I. The two teams will also send a contingent to Princeton University for the Princeton Elite Meet.
These will be the teams’ final competitions before the NCAA Outdoor Championships at the end of May.
