University of Connecticut Captures Men's and Women's 2010 Title
Men's Championship: (women's story listed below)
courtesy of University of Connecticut Sports
Information
PRINCETON, N.J. - Earning 39 points off of two-first, three-fifth and an eighth place finish on the final day of competition in the IC4A Championship, the University of Connecticut men's track and field team earned their first ever IC4A Outdoor Track and Field Championship Title.
UConn entered the final day of the 134th annual IC4A Championship down by 14 points behind the leader Liberty (39) and the host team of Princeton (27). The day started off with the triple jump and the javelin where Tyrone Faverey and Dylan Dombrowski both recorded PRs in their respective events. Faverey finished in fifth place with a distance of 15.10 meters (49-6.5) in the triple jump while Dombrowski took eighth with a throw of 63.10 meters (207') in the javelin to add some more points to the Husky total.
"We were behind quite a bit heading into today," said head coach Greg Roy. "Tyrone and Dylan's PRs really started things off for us and we just kept on going from there."
The Huskies were still down 22 points in a 60-70 team competition, heading into the 800 meter run where Brian Gagnon and Mike Rutt did the thing that they are best at and finished competition ahead of the pack. Gagnon picked up his second IC4A 800-meter outdoor title, this time with an outstanding time of 1:47.96. Rutt finished just a few hundredths of a second behind Gagnon in third place with his season best time of 1:48.09. The duo earned 16 points for the team and got them right back in contention.
Anthony Burris' fifth place and season best finish of 51.93 seconds added a few more points to UConn's total. Mike Alleman also helped the Huskies out with a fifth place finish of his own in the shot put with a toss of 17.30 meters (56-9.25). His throw beat the Liberty competitor's throw edged the Huskies' closer to the title heading into the relays, the final events of the day.
UConn's 4x800 meter relay squad, that finished preliminary action with an overall first place finish did not disappoint, taking first place for the second-straight day and putting the Huskies over the top and into first place. The foursome of Dan Holst, Tim Bennatan, Rutt and Gagnon crossed the line in 7:23.49 over a second behind their closest competitor in Penn.
"Today was a good win," continued Roy. "Winning a championship comprised of 60-70 teams is no easy task and you have to count heavily on the big points. Today, the team earned the big points when they needed to and got us our first IC4A Outdoor Championship in the history of Connecticut track and field."
Women's Championship:
PRINCETON, N.J. - The UConn women's track and field team won its third straight ECAC Outdoor Championship as the Huskies dominated their competition with 105 points and six titles.
Led by the ECAC Athlete of the Meet, Trisha-Ann Hawthorne, the Huskies won their third straight ECAC title at the William Weaver Track & Field Stadium in Princeton, N.J. UConn posted 105 points, a dominating 51 points ahead of Columbia, the second-place finisher. Brown rounded out the top-three teams with 41 points.
Hawthorne is coming off a successful BIG EAST Championship where she was also named women's track Athlete of the Meet after winning both the 100 and 200 meter dash and was a part of the Huskies winning 4x100 meter relay. This weekend, Hawthorne continued to dominate her opposition as she won both the 100 and 200 meter dash at the ECAC Championship for the third straight year. Her and her fellow teammates also won the 4x100 meter for the third straight year as well. That group consists of Hawthorne, Mandela Graves-Fulgham, Phylicia George and Kristen Brown. Hawthorne took home the crown in the 100 meter with a time of 11.58, while in the 200 meter she finished in 23.30, a new UConn record and a top-20 performance in nation.
The 4x100 meter relay won the title with a time of 44.43 to break the ECAC Championship record. The Huskies 4x100 relay team barely missed breaking the school record of 44.42, which was set in 2009. The performance from the relay group moved UConn up to 17th in the nation in the event.
Other title winners for the Huskies included Graves-Fulgham in the 400 meter dash as she took first place with a school record time of 53.07, to improve her national standings from 22nd to 19th. Her time also set a UConn record in the event, one she set at the BIG EAST Championship two weeks ago.
In the javelin, UConn's Emma Crowcroft won the title as she threw for a distance of 154'2" (46.98 meters). Tynisha McMillian took second in the shot put with a throw of 50' (15.24 meters). The Huskies' 4x800 meter relay, consisting of Leah Andrianos, Heather Wilson, Meghan Cunningham and Brigitte Mania came in first place with a winning time of 8:44.95. Andrianos ran a season-best in the 800 meters with a time of 2:08.74.
Jasmine Cribb took second place in the high jump with a leap of 5'10" (1.78 meters) for the Huskies. George came in second place in her specialty, the 100 meter hurdles, with a time of 13.69 as she entered the weekend ranked 15th in the region in the event. She was also a part of the first place 4x100 meter relay.
"It was a substantial effort on our team's part," said head coach Bill Morgan. "Everyone competed at a high level to win our third title with 105 points. I was really proud of the effort overall."
Next up for the Huskies will be the NCAA Division I East Regional beginning on Thursday, May 27 at North Carolina A&T.
2010 IC4A/ECAC Information
