On Friday, the UConn track and field team kicked off their outdoor season, competing in the Black and Gold Invite in Orlando, FL.
Schools such as Kansas, Rutgers, Clemson and many others joined the Huskies for an action-packed, 20-event weekend.
The reigning outdoor, dual Big East champions picked up right where they left off from the indoor season, tallying 14 top-5 results across the men’s and women’s respective squads.
On the men’s side was senior Kasey Savage, who exploded for a personal best mark of 7.65 meters in the long jump. The standout senior from Horsham, PA’s impressive jump landed him first place in the event. Coming in closely behind that jump was junior Marc Morrison, with a second-place leap of 7.49m, respectively. Savage’s impressive day carried over to the triple jump, taking a second-place mark with a 14.99m leap.
Impressive performances from first-year Mawali Osunniyi and senior Travis Snyder highlighted day two. Osunniyi, who is from Linwood, NJ, recorded a 2.09m in the men’s high jump event, placing him in second behind Tennessee’s Grant Campbell. Snyder, who competed in the pole vault, stamped a 5.23m, which placed him third overall.
On the women’s side, senior Jasmine Barrow showed out in the long jump and triple jump, recording a personal best in the long jump, leaping 6.12m. The senior from Athens, GA, took third in the event, then jumped a first-place mark of 13.02m in the triple jump. On day two, junior Natalia Surdej took second place in the hammer throw event at 58.35m.
“We’ve had a whole week of spring break training down here, so the entire week was spent in preparation for this outdoor season, and it was really a productive week for the entire Husky crew that was down here,” said Director of Track & Field Beth Alford-Sullivan to uconnhuskies.com. “We opened very well here, but it was hot here, so it was an adjustment. We competed very well, it was a great season opener, and the team went up against good competition.”
The Huskies will be back in action on March 28 for the Raleigh Relays before hosting the Dog Fight Invite on March 30.