The UConn men’s and women’s track teams won the UConn Dog Fight meet on Saturday afternoon, putting together a strong and complete performance across the board.
The men’s team won by a comfortable 33 points over second-place Albany, N.Y. in a steady and controlled win. The women captured first place over runner-up Northeastern by 32 points, handling the competition similarly.
Sophomore Del Lindsay made the first podium finish for the men in the 400m with a time of 47.45, setting the tone early. Senior Mekhi Stone followed close behind in 47.57, giving UConn a solid one-two presence in the event.
In the 110m hurdles, junior Joshua Mooney placed first with a time of 14.07, adding another key win. In the men’s 4x100m relay, sophomore Nicholas Wright, junior Noble Gongon, senior Damon Simpson and junior Medwin Odamtten came runner-up with a time of 40.30, finishing right behind Northeastern’s 40.04.
On the women’s side, junior Anna Connors came runner-up in the 200m with a time of 24.58, finishing behind Albany’s Fega Eruotor at 24.45. Caitlin Thomas then placed first in the 5000m by a wide margin with a time of 17:19.74, with Dartmouth finishing in second place over a minute later.
The 4x100m relay came down to a tight finish between UConn, Northeastern and Quinnipiac. Senior Mia Dansby, sophomore Sarah Claflin, junior Audrey Kozak and freshman Brooklyn Taylor placed third by under three tenths of a second with 46.00. Quinnipiac finished at 45.95, while Northeastern took first at 45.74.
The women responded in the 4×400 relay. The A squad of Connors, freshman Kiley Shatzel, sophomore Maresa Hense and senior Jessica Starr claimed first place with a time of 3:44.97. The B squad of sophomore Mackenzie Braunstein, freshman Ruby Tillson, graduate student Alyssa Elliott and senior Caroline Rice placed third with a time of 3:51.10.
In the men’s field events, freshman Marshall Potter took fourth in the discus with 50.28m. In the javelin, Thomas Bannon won the event in a close finish over Northeastern’s Matthew St. Cyr, 66.69m to 66.66m.
Sophomore Enaji Muhammad added another win in the high jump with 2.05m. Freshman Derek Shimer followed with a fourth-place finish at 1.95m.
Freshman Wyatt Martin placed third in the pole vault with a height of 4.45m, missing first by 0.15m in a tight competition.
Potter closed out the meet for the men with a first-place finish in the hammer throw at 60.39m, capping off a strong day.
The women’s field events also produced results. Senior Caitlin Dumouchel placed runner-up in the javelin with a throw of 39.74m. Freshman Kaylee Meyer took first in the high jump at 1.65m.
In the pole vault, senior Rachel Mason finished runner-up behind Holy Cross with a height of 3.85m. Hense and Kozak added more points in the long jump, placing first and third with jumps of 5.92m and 5.69m. Taylor added a sixth-place finish with 5.57m.
Freshman Matilda Brockley added another win in the triple jump with a distance of 12.39m, continuing the strong showing from the underclassmen.
Both teams now carry momentum into their next meet at Duke University on April 10, where they will look to build on this performance.