To kick off their 2023-2024 winter campaign, the UConn track and field team shipped off to Boston on Saturday to compete in the Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener, hosted by Boston University.
Against 125 other collegiate teams, six athletes from the men’s side had the chance to compete. After a record-breaking past few seasons, they had various runners receive top marks.
Mahamed Sharif, a senior specializing in mid-distance, placed 29th out of 57 in the mile run with a 4:13.66 mile time. The Maine native is coming off a personal best at the Beantown Challenge, along with a third place finish in the Big East Outdoor Track and Field championship with a time of 1:50.07 in the 800m. He competed in both of these meets in his sophomore season, respectively. A fellow Husky, senior Stephen Sutton, joined Sharif in the mile run and finished with a time of 4:17.44.
Kevin Cawley, a graduate student, competed in the 3000 Meter Run, finishing 54th out of 106th with a time of 8:12.48. The long distance runner is coming back from a historic junior season. He finished first in the distance medley relay at the Big East Outdoor Track and Field Championships with a time of 9:40.49 and managed an 8-minute 4th-place finish in the 3000 meter race at the IC4A championship.
To conclude the meet for the Huskies, they had three athletes compete in the 5000 meter run, which was the final event. Out of the three, graduate student Christopher Lepore finished first at the 132nd spot, putting up a 14:11.47 time. Shortly after, sophomore Alec Sauter took 178th place with a time of 14:30.26. Then, freshman and current Daily Campus writer Sean Ahern put up a 14:46.04 time, placing 197th. In total, there were 207 runners in the event.
Next week, the men’s and women’s teams are set to host the UConn Husky Challenge at the newly renovated Hugh S. Greer Field House. This two-day meeting will start on Thursday, December 7, commencing with the women’s pentathlon at noon. The men’s heptathlon will begin at 12:30pm later that day and conclude at 10 a.m. the following day. The first field and track events will be held at 11 a.m. and 4 p.m., respectively, on Friday.