After a tremendous showing in Boston last weekend, the UConn Men’s and Women’s track and field team will split their squad this weekend on January 26th and 27th.
One group will head back to Boston to compete in the Boston University John Thomas Terrier Classic. The other half will head to the Big Apple for the Dr. Sander Columbia Challenge.
The Boston University John Thomas Terrier Classic is named after late BU alum John Thomas, who set the world high-jump record as a freshman. The Brockton, MA native was a loyal alumni of BU athletics, always attending and supporting the Terriers at various events.
This meet is on the larger side with multiple collegiate teams from across New England and the Tri-State area. It will begin with all the men’s events beginning on Friday at 11 a.m. with an expected finish at 9 p.m. The women’s events will participate on Saturday with the same expected start and finish times.
The Dr. Sander Columbia Challenge will take place at the New York Armory. When Connecticut competed in this event last year, they brought record-breaking results back to Storrs.
There were 23 top-five results, with the men finishing second and the women finishing third. On the men’s side, Travis Snyder had a record-breaking performance in the pole vault event with a 5.47m jump, placing first and breaking his previous school record from the 2022 season. On the women’s side, Caroline Webb and A’liyah Thomas both set personal records in each of their respective events. Jasmine Barrow also improved from the No.5 spot all-time at UConn, moving up to No.3 in the triple jump.
Even with the meet last week, freshman Josh Mooney crushed his 60-meter hurdle personal best, finishing in 7.99 seconds. This performance established him well in the top-10 UConn all-time list and he currently possesses the third best time in the Big East.
Last weekend, on the women’s side, Barrow finished first place in the triple jump, showing her strength in that event.
As the Huskies look to repeat history with their record-breaking winning ways, this should be a great weekend for Connecticut.