Three weekends ago, the UConn track and field team headed down to the Sunshine State to compete in Orlando, Florida. This upcoming week, the Huskies will return to take on the Hurricane Invitational at the University of Miami.
Since the Florida meet, the Huskies enjoyed a trip down to North Carolina for the Raleigh Relays and their very own UConn Dog Fight. The Dog Fight, which took place April 1, hosted a cavalry of northeast competitors from Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
Cornell, the alpha of the Dog Fight, swept the results as UConn followed in second place with scores of 126.5 for the men and 178.33 for the women.
While UConn came up just short behind the Big Red, that didn’t stop them from putting themselves on the map. Just a few of the many records earned at the Dog Fight were from Sofia Wittmann in the pole vault, Travis Roux in the distance throw and Emily Lavarnway in the 100m hurdles.
Some of the other standout competitors from the Dog Fight include Chloe Thomas and Jenna Zydanowicz in the 800m and the women’s 4x400m relay taking the gold.
Looking ahead, the University of Miami should provide a tough matchup for their northern competition this weekend.
The last time UMiami and UConn went head to head was at the NCAA Indoor Championships in New Mexico where the sole Connecticut competitor was Mahamed Sharif and the Hurricanes had multiple.
The matchup this weekend will provide a much more seasoned and holistic view of how the two teams truly compare.
When looking at the stats of the Miami squad in comparison to that of Connecticut, the marks are highly similar with both teams demonstrating strengths. A’liyah Thomas of Connecticut and Jemima Mills of Miami have nearly identical times in the 100m dash. Similarly, Patricia Mroczkowski and Miami’s Rachel Robertson are just one millimeter apart in the high jump.
Other nearly identical times include Mekhi Stone and the Canes’ Jalen Gordon in the 200m, Wellington Ventura just a second behind Miami’s Solomon Strader in the 400m and Samuel Geisler alongside numerous competitors in the 3000m.
Moving forward, the Hurricane Invitational should stir up the Huskies’ hunger for success on both the track and field. Although the matchup may be intense, the Huskies have proven time and time again that they can look fierce competition in the eye and come out on top.
