NEW YORK - Columbia track & field took on Yale and Dartmouth Saturday night, in the first competition of the year that featured Ivy League opponents. The night featured several strong performances from the Lions. 

The women's team took the top spot in the night, besting Yale and Dartmouth with 77 total team points. 

First-year Tayler Johnson won the 200m dash in 25.24, while junior Sharay Hale continued to dominate in the 400m run, coming in at 54.18, a full two seconds ahead of her nearest competitor. First-year Erin Gillingham won the 3000m run in 9:44.82, while sophomore Emily Lanois took second in the mile, in 4:55.99. Junior Kyra Caldwell won the 60m hurdles, crossing the finish line in 8.74 seconds, followed closely by Johnson in 8.78 seconds. The 4x400m team of Caldwell, Miata Morlu, Uju Ofoche and Hale also won, beating all five other teams by over seven seconds, coming in at 3:46.49. 

In the field events, first-year Tara Richmond and junior Monique Roberts performed well in the high jump, as Richmond won the event clearing 1.75m, which is a season-best in the Ivy League thus far. Roberts also cleared 1.75m, but with more misses on her card, came in second. Junior Sarah Engle won the pole vault, clearing 3.55m, while Ofoche won the long jump, hitting 5.74m. QueenDenise Okeke took the top spot in the triple jump, landing at 11.75m, while sophomore Nnenna Okwara won the weight throw with a distance of 16.77m. 

On the men's side, there were a few top finishes as well. In the men's 500m run, first-year Sam Miner won the final heat in 1:05.77, while junior Jason Marks won the pole vault, clearing 4.65m. The men's 3000m run saw a large block of Columbia men run well, led by senior Adam Behnke, who finished third in 8:21.15. He was followed by Mike Murphy (8:21.73), Nicolas Composto (8:23.09), Jacob Sienko (8:23.74) and Leighton Spencer (8:24.72).

Up next for the Lions is the Penn State National, which will take place in University Park, Pa., Saturday, January 29th.