The UConn track & field teams traveled to Columbus, OH this past weekend to compete in the Jesse Owens Track Classic, a two-day meet hosted by Ohio State.
The Huskies totaled five first place finishes and an additional nine top-five performances. On the men’s side, there were three first place results and three top-fives. For the women, there were two first place finishes and six top-five results.
In the men’s field events, senior Kasey Savage took first place in the triple jump with a mark of 14.71m. The men also succeeded in the Javelin Throw, as junior Connor Hayford placed first with a throw totaling 59.38m, while his teammate Gabriel Fountain, senior, had a mark of 54.62m, resulting in a fifth place finish.
In the track events, the men saw similar success. Grad student Kevin Cawley placed first in the 1500m with a time of 3:48.66 seconds. Senior Richmond Kwaateng came in third in the 100m Finals with a mark of 10.64 seconds, finishing less than a tenth of a second behind Tiffin’s Malchi Adams, who placed first with a time of 10.55 seconds, and Walsh’s Micah Gremling, who placed second with a final time of 10.60 seconds. William Watson, a sophomore, placed fourth in the 100m Hurdles, running a time of 14.42 seconds, and finishing a hundredth of a second behind Youngstown State’s Micah Mitchell who came in third with a mark of 14.41 seconds.
On the women’s side, the athletes competing in the field events had strong performances all around. Though there were not first place finishes, there were still multiple strong showings in different events. In the hammer throw, junior Natalie Surdej came in third, throwing an impressive 59.87m. Senior Jasmine Barrow placed fourth in the long jump, leaping 5.83m. The strongest performance in the field events came during the javelin throw, as the Huskies secured second and third place finishes. Sophomore Caitlin Dumouchel came in third with a mark of 42.60m, finishing just behind her junior teammate Brynn Madonna, who finished second with a mark of 44.28m.
On the track, the women saw two first place finishes and two top-five results. Both of the top-five finishes came in the same event, the 5000m. Graduate student Caroline Webb came in fifth with a time of 17:19.32 seconds, finishing two places behind teammate Chloe Trudel, who came in third, finishing the 5000m in 17:02.60 seconds. In the 1500m, junior Chloe Thomas dominated the competition, finishing with a time of 4:17.93 seconds and beating out second place by seven seconds. Senior A’Liyah Thomas continued her dominant campaign this past weekend, finishing first in the 100m hurdles with a time of 13.44 seconds.
Next weekend the Huskies take on the Penn Relays, Virginia High Performance Meet and the Yale Invite. UConn is looking to continue to perform well as they get closer and closer to the Big East Outdoor Championships.