This past weekend, the UConn Huskies Track & Field team traveled to Boston to participate in the Suffolk Invitational as they looked to continue their strong start to their 2023-24 indoor campaign. At the meet, the team saw success all over the place with 13 first place finishes, two facility records and additional indoor school records.
Senior Jenna Zydanowicz set a personal record in the 1000-meter run with a time of 2:46.47 seconds. This was also a school indoor record, breaking the record that was previously held by Heather Wilson who has had the record since 2011 with a time of 2:46.97 seconds.
Fans also saw another record time in the mixed 1600 relay. While sophomores Zachary Barry, Anish Rajamanickam, Megan Perrotta and Caroline Rice came in second in the race, the group would set the school record with a time of 3:38.20 seconds. Perrotta also went on to have a strong showing in the 1000-meter run, placing fifth with a time of 2:58.86 seconds.
There was a lot of success seen from both the men’s and women’s teams this past weekend.
On the men’s side, sophomore Mekhi Stone placed first and set a personal record in the 200-meter dash with a time of 21.50 seconds. Noble Gongon also had an incredible performance in the 200-meter dash, placing second with a time of 21.76 seconds. Mawali Osunniyi placed first and set a personal record as well. The freshman from Linwood, New Jersey jumped 2.16 meters in the High Jump event. Dar Jankovic, a freshman, came in third place in this event with a jump of 2.00 meters. Senior Kasey Savage placed first in the long jump after leaping 7.28 meters and setting a new personal record. Graduate Student Travis Martin and sophomore William Watson won their respective events as well. For Martin, he placed first in the 1000-meter run with a time of 2:22.99, while Watson placed first in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.17 seconds for a new personal record.
Outside of Zydanowicz’s record-setting performance in the 1000-meter run, the women’s team saw more success. Junior A’liyah Thomas set a facility record in the long jump event with a mark of 6.25 meters to score first in the event by a large margin. Caroline Towle, a senior, placed first in the mile run with a time of 4:58.36.
The Huskies went on to capture the top three spots in the 1000-meter run. Zydanowicz came first with a school record time of 2:46.47, followed by freshman Malin Rahm with a second place time of 2:52.79 seconds and freshman Calista Mayer, who placed third with a time of 2:56.29 seconds. The women finished with five of the top six finishes in the 1000-meter run.
They also showed out in the 200-meter dash. Though the group was unable to grab first place , there were seven Huskies who finished inside the top 10 of the event. Graduate student Patricia Mroczkowski took first place in the high jump event, jumping a height of 1.75 meters. Sophomore Rachel Mason placed first in the pole vault, eclipsing a height of 3.65 meters. Senior Felicia Quainoo brought the Huskies yet another first place finish, winning the triple jump event by jumping 11.55 meters.
Overall, Connecticut had a very successful weekend and started off 2024 with a bang. Next up, the group will look to carry on their momentum in their meet on Jan. 20 at the Collegiate Showdown.