University of Connecticut Athletics
Huskies Grab Two Medals on Day One of AAC Championship
2/22/2019 7:31:00 PM | Men's Track and Field
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The UConn Huskies finished up the first day of competition at the 2019 American Athletic Conference Indoor Championship and had a pair of medal winning performances with senior Ian Bergere (Madison, Conn.) taking third in the pole vault and the distance medley relay team taking silver.
"It was a day were we did a lot of things we needed to, to be successful," stated head coach Greg Roy. "We moved a lot of guys through on the track and we are in position to do well. Now, we need to go out and compete tomorrow. Today, I thought we competed well. By and large, we compete well."
After five scored events, the Huskies are seventh with 16 total points. Wichita State leads the field after day one with 40 total points. Tulsa is in second (34) followed by Cincinnati (32.5), Memphis (27), USF (18.5) and Houston (17) in front of the Huskies. ECU is in eighth (10).
The first UConn points of this weekend's championship were claimed by Bergere who took home a third place finish in the pole vault. It is the first all-conference performance for Bergere in his career. The senior posted a height of 5.03 meters (16'6.00") taking third in the field.
Junior Cameron Thompson (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y.) scored for the Huskies in the weight throw and just missed setting a new personal best mark. Thompson came in eighth place with a throw of 17.89 meters (58'8.50"), just off his best-ever throw set earlier this season at the Beantown Challenge (17.90m/58'8.75").
Sophomore Benjamin Grosse (Wayzata, Minn.) sits in fourth place with 2869 points after four events in the heptahlon. Grosse won the high jump on day one, clearing a height of 2.04 meters (6'8.25"), his best-ever height. He also ran his fastest ever time in the 60 meter dash, clocking in at 7.39 seconds. The event concludes tomorrow with the 60 meter hurdles, pole vault and 1,000 meters.
On the track, the Huskies grabbed a second place finish in the distance medley relay in a closely contested race. The UConn team of sophomores Joshua Bedard (Tolland, Conn.), Omar Gebril (North Haven, Conn.), Brain Camillieri (Pearl River, N.Y.) and Ian Mickool (Ridgefield, Conn.) grabbed silver when they finished in 10:04.56, just behind Memphis at 10:04.23 and just in front of Tulsa at 10:04.70.
"That distance medley group, an unheralded group that ran today," stated Roy. "We came in with the top time this season, but today, we had to run a team that never ran the event together before, and they are all-conference. A great way to end the day. They showed a lot of toughness, they did a really nice job."
Sophomore Will Brisman (Fairfield, Conn.) scored for the first time in his career in an individual event at the conference meet, finishing eighth in the 5,000 meters with a time of 14:42.99.
In the mile, a pair of Huskies advanced to Saturday's final in seniors Kyle Barber (Fayetteville, N.Y.) and PJ Garmon (Billerica, Mass.). Barber ran the second fastest time in Friday's trials, clocking in at 4:14.79 while Garmon was third in the heat with a time of 4:15.43.
Freshman Wellington Ventura (Cresskill, N.J.) had a great first day of his first collegiate championship meet, qualifying for the finals in the 400-meters with a time of 47.78 seconds. He will be joined in Saturday's final by senior Kyle Trocki (Shrewsbury, Mass.) who recorded a new personal best at 48.39 seconds, his fastest time in the event since the 2017 AAC Outdoor Championship.
A pair of UConn rookies made it to the finals of the 60-meter hurdles on Saturday. Freshman Oluwatomide Alao (Jamaica, N.Y.) had the fourth fastest time on Friday and posted a new personal best with a clocking of 8.12 seconds. Classmate Konstantin Rust turned in a time of 8.20 seconds.
Sophomore Tyler Gleen (Shelton, Conn.) will be joined in the 800-meter final by freshman Joseph Pearl (Manchester, Conn.) who qualified on Friday thanks to his fastest time this season. Gleen moved on Friday after recording a qualifying time of 1:51.11. Pearl turned in a time of 1:52.89, nearly a full second faster than his top time this season.
The meet will conclude on Saturday, opening with the finish of the heptathlon. Saturday's finals in the field events include the high jump, shot put and triple jump. The track will feature finals in mile, 400m, 60m hurdles, 60m dash, 800m, 200m, 3,000m and the 4x400m relay (in that order).
Players Mentioned
