The UConn men’s track and field team host a heptatholon in Hugh S. Greer Field House in December 2017 (Charlotte Lao/The Daily Campus)
UConn’s biggest event of the year is coming up this weekend at the New England Championship in Boston. UConn prepared well in the Columbia Challenge and that meet has them well set up before this upcoming championship.
Head Coach Greg Roy said that the New England Championship means a lot to the program.
“The New England Championship has been a cornerstone for the development for our program,” Roy said.
For many of the players, Roy said this means much more to them than any of the previous events.
“A lot of our kids are from New England, they understand that for them to be New England champs means a lot,” Roy said. “It’s a great stepping stone to conference and national level competition.”
Roy said that he wants the team to be confident going into the meet because of their long history of success at the championship.
“As I say to the kids, ‘this is your neighborhood and you gotta be the big kid on the block,’” Roy said.
Roy said that this meet can really help with the development of many of the younger kids, especially the six freshmen on the team, which Roy knows will grow up fast with this kind of experience.
Roy said that he is expecting a bit of a rivalry coming from the University of Rhode Island team because of the frequency that the teams compete against one another.
“This will be our fourth week in a row that we go head-to-head with Rhode Island,” Roy said. “It’s a great rivalry, it’s a fierce and friendly rivalry and their head coach is a UConn alum.”
Roy said besides Rhode Island, Northeastern University is another school that he knows will be tough competition, but other than that, Roy said he is confident that his men can pull it out.
The New England Championship will be on Friday and Saturday.
Daniel Dashefsky is a campus correspondent for The Daily Campus. He can be reached at daniel.dashefsky@uconn.edu.
