University of Connecticut Athletics
On The Road To Greensboro!
5/25/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track and Field
May 25, 2010
| 2010 NCAA East Regional Information |
STORRS, Conn. - Coming off of its first IC4A Outdoor Championship, nine University of Connecticut men's track athletes will continue their postseason run at the NCAA East Regionals in Greensboro, N.C. beginning on May 27 on the campus of North Carolina A&T at the Irwin Belk Track.
Overall, 10 athletes have qualified for NCAAs this season, but senior Sean Smith will bypass the East Regional and head straight to Eugene, Ore. the site of the NCAA Championships. Smith has earned a coveted spot in the highly competitive decathlon making his first NCAA appearance after totaling 7,370 points en route to his second-straight BIG EAST decathlon title.
The 10 athletes that earned a spot in the NCAA Championships are the most in the last 10 years. Eight athletes represented the Huskies in 2007 and 2008, seven in 2003 and six in 2004 and 2009.
Competition will kick off on Thursday for the Huskies with the first round of the 400 meter hurdles where senior Anthony Burris and freshman Chris Whyte will look to advance to the quarterfinal round at 3:30 p.m. Burris finished the year with a time of 51.93 seconds which ranked 32nd in the east region while Whyte snuck in with a time of 52.43 seconds, 47th in the east region --- the top-48 athletes earn a spot.
Burris is a veteran at the NCAA meet as he will be making his third appearance. He finished in 10th place last season and 14th in 2008 in the 400 H. Whyte will make his first showing at the meet.
At 4:00 p.m., junior Kyle Duggan will begin his NCAA competition in the pole vault. Duggan earns his second-straight showing at the Championship after finishing the regular season with a personal best height of 5.21 meters which ranked 19th in the east region in 2010.
To round out day one, Indoor 800 meter All-Americans Brian Gagnon and Mike Rutt will take part in the first round of the 800 meter run at 7:30 p.m. Gagnon finished the year 10th in the east with a personal best time of 1:47.88 in the mid-distance event while Rutt was right behind him in 11th place coming across in 1:48.09. Gagnon's time was recorded in the preliminary races at the IC4A Championship; as he went on to earn his second IC4A 800-meter title. Rutt's helped him to a third place finish during the IC4A 800-meter final while both athletes helped their team to its first ever IC4A Outdoor Title.
Friday is a busy one for the Huskies as the day kicks off at 3:00 p.m. with the shot put. Mike Alleman, in his first outdoor season qualified with a distance of 17.67 meters to rank him 25th in the east. Alleman's mark was recorded at the Penn Relays en route to a shot put title.
Marquis Thomas, an indoor high jump All-American, will be making his third trip to the NCAA East Regionals after qualifying with a height of 2.10 meters which ranks 37th in the east in 2010. The high jump competition will begin at 5:00 p.m.
At 6:30 p.m. the 800 meter runners will take part in the quarterfinal round followed by the 400 meter hurdles quarterfinals at 7:00 p.m. where the top-12 athletes will move onto Eugene.
The day will finish with the quarterfinals of the 3,000 meter steeplechase which features senior Will Sanders who is making his NCAA debut in his final season as a Husky. Sanders finished 16th in the east with a personal best time of 8:51.27, recorded at the IC4A Championship.
Competition for the Huskies concludes on Saturday at Noon as Tyrone Faverey will try to set yet another personal best in the triple jump and advance to the Championships. His PR of 15.10 meters recorded at the IC4A Championship not only pushed him into 42nd place in the east, but helped solidify the Husky victory. This will be Faverey's first appearance at an NCAA Championship.
Stay tuned to UConnHuskies.com for more information as the Huskies head to Greensboro.
Players Mentioned
