University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
Sorlien Invitational
UConn Continues to Build with Strong Showing at URI
1/19/2019 7:07:00 PM | Men's Track and Field
KINGSTON, R.I. – The UConn men's track and field team traveled to the University of Rhode Island on Saturday to compete in the Sorlein Invitational, looking to build on last week's success as they head toward their first championship weekend in two weeks. UConn did just that with several Huskies grabbing event wins and plenty of others posting personal best marks.
"We had a heck of a day and really accomplished everything we talked about pre-meet," stated head coach Greg Roy. "We had a lot of guys move themselves forward today. It was a great opportunity for a lot of our young guys today and they really competed well and really grew as competitors. And ideal day for our program."
Sophomore Todd Stueber (Toms River, N.J.) pushed himself up the AAC rankings in the shot put by winning the event on Saturday with a personal-best throw of 16.85 meters (55'3.5"). Stueber also had a personal best in the weight throw at 14.94 meters (49'0.25"). "Todd had a great day and each week he picks up a little bit more," commented Roy. "He is showing he can be competitive when we head towards the conference championship. Five of his six throws today were PR's, and he just keeps getting better and better."
Junior Ivan Nyemeck (Quebec City, Quebec) finished fourth in the long jump but more importantly, he recorded a season-best jump of 6.77 meters (22'2.5"). In the triple jump, freshman Collin Wiltshire (Ledyard, Conn.) took third but also posted his best leap of the season at 13.95 meters (45'9.25").
Senior Ian Bergere (Madison, Conn.) picked-up another win in the pole vault, besting the field with a height of 4.90 meters (16'0.75").
On the track, sophomore Eric Van Der Els (Norwalk, Conn.) ran his first 800 meters of the indoor season and recorded a time of 1:53.90, which would be the third fastest in the AAC heading into this weekend. Senior PJ Garmon (Billerica, Mass.) was the winner in the mile, running the event for the first time during indoor season and recording a time of 4:18.73.
The 500 meters was again an event the Huskies dominated with freshman Wellington Ventura (Cresskill, N.J.) grabbing his first collegiate win with a time 1:05.09. Sophomore Tyler Gleen (Shelton, Conn.) was second at 1:05.57, freshman Noah Woodman (Hampstead, N.H.) in fourth at 1:06.14 and sophomore Colt Nichols (Portsmouth, N.H.) in fifth at 1:06.52.
In the 400 meters, freshman Gregory Clark (Quaker Hill, Conn.) ran a career-best time, taking third place with a clocking of 50.58 seconds. In the 1,000 meters the Huskies had a strong showing with senior Kyle Barber (Fayetteville, N.Y.) taking first in 2:26.94, a new personal best by two seconds, and sophomore Joshua Bedard (Tolland, Conn.) taking third in 2:31.15.
The Huskies continued to put runners in the top-10 of AAC rankings in the 3,000 meters as senior Aidan Fiol (Fairfield, Conn) won the event on Saturday with a time of 8:38.67, right now fourth in the league. "A fifth-year guy, Aidan did a great job today, really competed." Junior Ian Mickool (Ridgefield, Conn.) was behind Fiol in second at 8:49.77.
The Huskies will head to New York City next weekend to compete in a deep and talented field of teams at the 2019 Columbia Challenge at the NYC Armory.
Players Mentioned
