A sixth-place finish in the 4x400-meter relay helped the men edge out Columbia University, who ended the meet in fourth with 53 points. The Big Green relay team included Kevin Crowley '13, Tyler Ford '11, co-captain Muhammed Abdul-Shakoor '10 and Noah Glick '10.
"I was extremely excited and pleased with my male sprinters and the 4x400 relay guys as they ran a great race and helped to secure the third place finish for the men's team," women's head coach and men's sprint coach Sandy Ford-Centonze said.
Finishing atop the meet, the Princeton University's men squad dominated with 181 points while the Cornell University men's team trailed in second with 149 points.
In recent years, Princeton and Cornell have dominated the men's competition, leaving all other teams scrambling for third. Last year, the Dartmouth men finished in last place among its Ivy foes.
Individually, Connor Reilly '13 lived up to expectations, winning the 60-meter dash and setting the school record for the second time this season. Clocking a time of 6.86, Reilly beat his old mark by 0.03 seconds.
"Immediately before the race, I was completely numb," Reilly said in an email to The Dartmouth. "I got out with a pretty clean start and all the work that we have been doing for the past few months took over."
Abdul-Shakoor followed close behind, finishing in third place with a time of 6.91.
The combination of those two finishes in the 60 meters earned Dartmouth 16 points, while co-captain Ted Lesher '10 added an additional 17 points in his three events.
Lesher finished second in the long jump with 7.33 meters, second in the triple jump with a final distance of 15.25 meters and sixth in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.32 seconds all career bests.
Despite these personal records, Lesher was outshined by Heps MVP Duane Teixeira of Cornell who won both the long jump and triple jump.
Also earning high finishes, Rob Contuzzi '12 placed second in the heptathlon with 4949 points and David Irving '11 earned third in the weight throw with a toss of 18.02 meters.
"At the end of the meet I told the team that we had done well, but that we will do even better at the outdoor championships," men's head coach Barry Harwick said.
Earning only 16 points, the women finished in last place, tied with Yale University. Princeton University earned the Ivy crown, coming in first with 125 points.
Priscilla Trojano '12 earned 10 of the Big Green's points with her win in the pentathlon.
"It was super exciting and by far the highlight of my track career," she said.
Entering the last pentathlon event in fourth place, Trojan said she needed to take the 800 meters for a chance at the win.
"I was pretty nervous and knew I was going to have to run my absolute hardest to move up," she said. "The girl in third was within reach, but [the runners in] first and second had a pretty decent lead."
Trojan finished first with a time of 2:22.45.
The women's tie for seventh place was disappointing since the team was picked to finish in sixth, according to Ford-Centonze.
Hosting Heps for the first time in four years, the Big Green track teams were excited to receive community support, Lesher said.
"Having so many current teammates, recent alums and friends out and supporting us was unreal," he said. "I think we really sent a message to the Ivy League."
