This past weekend, the UConn men’s and women’s track and field teams continued their hot start to the season, setting records and earning top marks in the Dr. Sander Columbia Challenge.
Overall, each side of the program took home a podium finish. The women took home third place with 76.5 points, while the men took home second place with 95 points. Schools from across the country brought their best to the two-day meet, a lineup that included UCLA, South Carolina, Maryland and Syracuse.
Senior Caroline Webb led the way for the women’s side, taking home the gold in the 5000-meters and setting a new personal record of 17:07.56. A’liyah Thomas excelled as well, taking second in the long jump and fifth in the 60-meter hurdles, personal bests for both. Thomas jumped 6.07m while clearing the hurdles in 8.62 seconds. Jasmine Barrow, already holding the No. 5 all-time program mark for the triple jump, improved upon her record with 12.53m, good for third place in the event.
As for the men, Terrel Williams continued his dominant stretch, taking home first place in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 7.74 seconds. The sophomore’s time barely beat South Carolina’s Filip Demsar, who completed the event in 7.76 seconds. That personal best is also significant to the program, as it is close to the top mark in UConn history.
Travis Snyder also dazzled this weekend, breaking both his own and the school’s record with a 5.47 meter jump. With a mark of that caliber, Snyder took home the gold by 0.42 meters.
James Maniscalco ran away with another gold, as the senior’s mile time of 4:05.57 proved a personal record. With his finish, Maniscalco sits at No. 8 all-time in program history.
It was a weekend of successes for the Huskies, with 23 top-five results and personal records aplenty. Even this early on in the season, the program has plenty to be excited about.
“Our team was just really well prepared,” said Director of Track & Field Beth Alford-Sullivan. “We competed extremely well. The highlight takeaways were Terrel running a 7.74 to hold off a very talented and successful hurdler from South Carolina for the win and of course Travis with a huge personal best and school record set in the pole vault. Also, for the women A’liyah Thomas had a big breakthrough in the 60-meter hurdles setting a big personal best.”
Up next for the Huskies is a trip up to Boston. They will compete on Friday and Saturday in the Crimson Elite/Scarlet & White Meet, hosted by Boston University.
