The UConn track and field team will be traveling to Boston this weekend to close out the outdoor regular season in the Jay Carisella and Joe Donahue Coaches Invitational, hosted by Northeastern.
The Huskies are coming off a stretch of impressive outings, including new program records and several personal bests coming in recent weeks.
Graduate student Sarah Trainor received the Big East Women’s Track Athlete of the Week honor after a dominant performance at the Penn Relays. She finished second in the steeplechase in a personal best of 9:56.25, the best mark in the Northeast region.
She was also the first leg of the record-breaking DMR squad along with Brooke Strauss, Anna Connors and Sascha Leticia. Their 11:08.87 finish shattered the previous program record to win the event.
Freshman Marshall Potter was also recognized as a notable Big East performance after another impressive showing last week. He has looked utterly dominant in the field all season and has quickly established himself as a leader in the throwing events. He swept the hammer throw and shot put at the Penn Relays, proving he is also in top form down the stretch.
Another recent standout has been junior Medwin Odamtten. After transferring from Tennessee, he has been an integral part of the Huskies’ sprinters. He has broken the school record in the 60m twice, putting up a blazing 6.61 mark in February. Odamtten recently won the 100m at the Northeast challenge in 10.37 seconds, a top three finish in UConn history. He will look to carry that momentum into this weekend and the postseason afterwards.
This week will also mark the last regular-season meet for UConn’s 23 seniors who were honored a few weeks ago. Their leadership has been invaluable to the Huskies’ success, and they will look to finish their collegiate careers strong as the stakes only get higher from here.
Building momentum this week will be crucial before the Huskies return home to host the Big East Outdoor Championships, as both the men and women are in pursuit of their fifth straight titles.
The events will all be held on Saturday, May 2, beginning at 10 a.m. with the men’s and women’s throwing events. The Huskies will then get the following week off to prepare for the conference championships.