Connecticut is looking to continue their Big East dominance this weekend as they travel to Chicago, Ill. to compete in the Big East indoor championships.
The conference championships are being hosted at the Dr. Conrad Worrill Indoor Track and Field Center and will be a two day event, kicking off Friday at 11:30 with the men’s and women’s 60m hurdles. It will conclude on Saturday, with the final event being the men’s 4x400m relay. The awards are going to be presented to the winning team at 3:10 p.m.. Connecticut hopes to place first and complete a successful conference title defense.
It’s been a successful indoor season for UConn, breaking multiple school records and having athletes place in the top five in many events. They have been nothing short of dominant in the Big East Championships since the 2021 outdoor season, where the men’s squad took home the conference title and haven’t let it go since. The women placed second that year, but came back in the 2022 indoor season, winning the championship, and are yet to lose since then.
Terrel Williams is expected to play a big role for the Huskies weekend. The senior from Maplewood, NJ has finished first in the 60m hurdles in back-to-back years and is looking to do it for a third year in a row.
One of the events that the Huskies are expected to exceed in is the men’s long jump. At last year’s championships, Connecticut had athletes place first, second and third. Coming in third was senior Kasey Savage, in second was senior Richmond Kwaateng and placing first was junior Marc Morrison.
On the women’s side, juniors Jaiyla Ash and A’Liyah Thomas are expected to make a sizable impact. Ash had a strong performance last year as a sophomore, placing first in the 60m hurdles, while teammates Thomas and Felicia Quainoo placed seventh and eighth.
Though Thomas finished seventh in the 60m hurdle finals, she placed second in the prelims and is expected to perform well in the event this year. Thomas placed first in the long jump as well, with a mark of 20-07.25 inches and placing ahead of teammates Taylor Woods and Jasmine Barrow who were second and third in the event.
The Huskies are going into this weekend with high hopes and high expectations, and are looking to return to Connecticut on Sunday with their sixth straight Big East championship.