Men’s Track and Field. (Photo by Charlotte Lao/The Daily Campus)
Coming off another strong performance at the New England Championship, the UConn men’s track and field team looks to keep its momentum rolling this weekend in Boston, where the Huskies will be competing in the David Hemery Valentine Invitational at Boston University.
The men’s events will kick off on Saturday morning, starting with the long/high jump and the 60m hurdles.
Freshman Josiah Thompson will be the Huskies’ lone representative in the 60m dash. Thompson set a new personal best with 6.95 seconds at the New England Championship. Freshmen Tomi Alao, Xavier Smith and Konstantin Rust will compete in the 60m hurdles. Smith and Rust both set personal bests at the New England Championships, with times of 8.19 and 8.22 seconds.
Freshman Noah Woodman will compete in the 200m dash for the first time this season. Five Huskies will compete in the 400m dash, led by Wellington Ventura. Ventura’s best time of 48.30 seconds currently ranks 10th in the American Athletic Conference.
Tyler Gleen will be one of three Huskies in the 800m run. Gleen’s best time of 1:50.49 currently ranks second in the conference. Senior Kyle Barber will lead a group of seven Huskies into the one-mile run. Barber set a new personal record with a 4:08.52 mile time at the New England Championship.
The Huskies will also be well represented in the field events.
Ian Bergere and Devon McShane will both compete in the pole vault. Bergere’s best performance currently ranks third in the conference (5.05m / 16ft 6.75in) and McShane set a new personal best at the New England Championships (4.80m / 15ft 9in).
Four Huskies will compete in the triple jump, headlined by Malik Snead and Ivan Nyemeck. Both athletes set personal bests at the New England Championship. Snead’s best jump (15.78m / 51ft 9.25in) was a new meet record and gave him the No. 1 spot in the conference and recognition as the conference field athlete of the week.
Neil Simmons is a campus correspondent for The Daily Campus. He can be reached via email at neil.simmons@uconn.edu .