University of Connecticut Athletics
Thomas Begins Decathlon Competition At NCAAs
5/31/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track and Field
BATON ROUGE, LA (May 31, 2002) -- Sophomore Will Thomas (Wakefield, RI) of the University of Connecticut men’s track and field team began the decathlon competition in strong fashion at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championship at Louisiana State University on Friday. Thomas, a two-time BIG EAST decathlon champion, is in ninth place with 3,940 points at the halfway point of the event.
Thomas opened the day by placing 14th and 15th in the 100-meter dash and long jump, respectively, but followed those events with impressive performances in the shot put and high jump portions of the decathlon. Thomas posted a heave of 14.16 meters (46’5 1/2”) in the shot put and registered a leap of 2.00 meters (6’6 3/4”) in the high jump. Both ranked as the sixth-best efforts in the field. Thomas concluded the day with a time of 50.33 in the 400-meter dash, good for the 11th fastest time.
The decathlon field at the NCAA Championship began with 19 competitors and will conclude with the 110-meter hurdles, the discus throw, the pole vault, the javelin and the 1,500-meter run on Saturday.
Thomas is one of four UConn men’s track and field athletes who qualified for the championship but was the only Husky in action on Friday. Yesterday, sophomore Paul Pisano (Toms River, NJ) placed 12th in the javelin throw with an effort of 68.34 meters (224’2”). Earlier Thursday evening, senior Dan Wilson (West Haven, CT) dominated his heat in the 1,500-meter run trials with a time of 3:40.27 to earn a spot in the finals on Saturday. Wilson’s time was the fastest of the day in the 1,500-meter preliminaries. Junior Joe Mendel (Wayne, NJ) also finished 15th in preliminary action for the 400-meter dash on Thursday.
The decathlon is expected to conclude shortly after 10:00 p.m. EST on Saturday while the 1,500-meter run finals are slated to begin at 9:00 p.m. EST.
