University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
AAC Indoor Track and Field Championships
Surin, Aneno, and Oladipo take gold in their events
2/23/2019 8:10:00 PM | Women's Track and Field
Huskies post top-5 finish at conference championships
BIRMINGHAM, Ala.—The UConn women's track and field team traveled to the Birmingham CrossPlex facility for the fourth consecutive year to compete in the 2019 American Athletic Conference Track and Field Indoor Championships, a two-day event. With 17 events scored, the Huskies posted a top-5 finish with three student-athletes taking home gold in their respective events.
The championship began on Friday, Feb. 22nd at 9:00 a.m. with the final day starting at the same time. To accommodate all of the trials, especially for the track events, Day One concluded around 6:00 p.m. Day Two would house all of the finals and a few additional trials from the field events with an awards ceremony to follow.
DAY ONE
UConn emerged in 11th place, just ahead of the Temple Owls. Kicking off the competition with the Pentathlon, sophomore Kelly Ward represented for the Huskies. She would finish 16th overall after competing in the various events; Shot Put (16th—8.90m), Long Jump (11th—5.08m), High Jump, 60 Meter Hurdles (17th—9.84m), and the 800 Meter Run (10th—2:29.74).
In the Long Jump, the top-nine advanced to the finals and among them was junior Taylor Woods. Her top-10 finish landed her seventh overall out of 24 competitors, lunging for a result of 5.77m.
The freshman and senior Pole Vaulting duo—Megan Biscoglio and Laurel Bailey finished in a three-way tie for 16th deadlocked with an East Carolina Pirate at 3.54m. However, freshman Emma Chee led the way posting her season best effort of 3.84m for a top-10 finish.
UConn nabbed top-10 and top-20 finishes in the 20 lb. Weight Throw in Chanell Botsis and Mikyla Rodger respectively. Eighth overall, Botsis' 18.53m effort was the best of her junior indoor season. The freshman Rodger finished at 19th and 15.14m.
Back on the track in the 5,000 Meter Run, sophomore Jaclyn Gallery set herself a new personal record for the season at 16:55.44 in fifth. Gallery's previous season best in this event was 17:07.52. Joining her in this testy distance event was freshman Sarah Leatherwood and senior Haley Hasty. Both crossed the finish line in the top-15, with Leatherwood at 17:19.38 and Hasty at 17:23.70.
The Huskies hold the meet record for the Distance Medley Relay from last season when Susan Aneno¸ Kristina Cherrington, Mia Nahom, and Foley finished the race at 11:29.93. This year's relay team tabbed a top-10 time of 12:03.17.
Through Day One preliminaries, UConn advanced six student-athletes to compete in the finals in their respective events.
DAY TWO
To kickoff the second and final day for the Huskies were Triple Jumpers Kelli Banks—senior and Gabriella Gavalas—junior. The pair would finish back to back in the top-20 with results of 11.36m and 11.33m respectively.
Shot Put was the next event for the women with their trials and finals to follow. Divine Oladipo reclaimed her championship title with her throw of 16.59m, which is a new meet record. The junior surpassed the 16.50m mark set at last year's indoor championships. Oladipo had previously taken home gold in 2017. She was joined in this event by Rodger who posted an effort of 10.39m for a 19th place finish.
.@UConnWTrack's Divine Oladipo is your women's shot put champion at the #AmericanITF Championship! She chatted with the ADN about the win! pic.twitter.com/i1yjfql9Wv
— American XC Track (@AmericanXCTrack) February 23, 2019
UConn advanced several student-athletes from the prelims to the finals in the Mile Run; Talia Staiger, Mia Nahom, and Allie Alsup. Leading the pack for the Huskies was sophomore Nahom whose time of 4:50.96 placed her second overall and was just shy of the meet record of 4:46.21. Staiger, senior, posted a season best time of 4:54.66 for a fifth place finish. Sophomore Alsup rounded out the heat at 5:14.68.
Trials in several field events going on right now at the #AmericanITF Championships, including the women's mile. We caught up with a trio of @UConnWTrack runners after going 1-2-3 in their heat!
— American XC Track (@AmericanXCTrack) February 22, 2019
?? (ADN) : https://t.co/a9Kyn9OmBY
?? (Live Results): https://t.co/iPSqwUbmss pic.twitter.com/BxpdRdUKgt
Having competed in the 400 Meter Dash with great success every year, senior Kat Surin held up her first gold medal with a time of 53.97. Surin finished first in the prelims as well with a qualifying time of 53.89.
What a finish! The women's 400m title at the 2019 #AmericanITF Championships goes to @UConnWTrack's Kat Surin! She chatted with the ADN about her come from behind win!
— American XC Track (@AmericanXCTrack) February 23, 2019
?? (ADN) : https://t.co/a9Kyn9OmBY
?? (Live Results): https://t.co/iPSqwUbmss pic.twitter.com/JuSxVpH5vy
Fellow senior Susan Aneno is now a two-time champion in the 800 Meter Run. Her first gold medal came last year when she finished at 2:06.49. At this year's championships she took first in the prelims with a qualifying time of 2:09.27 to finish at 2:06.54 in the finals.
.@UConnWTrack's Susan Aneno is your women's 800m run champion at the #AmericanITF Championship! She chatted with the ADN about the win! pic.twitter.com/Lnr6O3sQ60
— American XC Track (@AmericanXCTrack) February 23, 2019
Wrapping up the meet were the 3,000 Meter Run and the 4x400 Meter Relay. In the 3k, UConn nabbed a top-10 finisher in Nahom at 9:48.80. Top-20 finishers for the Huskies were Gallery—9:56.33 and Leatherwood—10:00.42. Other finishers for UConn were Hasty (22nd—10:00.88), Staiger (29th—10:02.95), Katelynn Romanchick (32nd—10:10.64), Courtney Akerley (34th—10:14.22), Rachel Vick (37th—10:16.60), and Randi Burr (40th—10:26.94).
In the final event of the 2019 AAC Indoor Track and Field Championships, the 4x400 Meter Relay Team for the Huskies finished second overall at 3:38.15 just behind the Cougars of Houston. UConn still holds the meet record established in 2014 by C. Emerson, F. Dismuke, D. Smith-Jenkins, and N. Joseph at 3:37.92.
This is the fourth time this season that UConn has had two or more first-place finishers at a meet. Next up for the Huskies is the ECAC Championships in Boston, Mass. The two-day meet will begin Saturday, Mar. 2nd and end Sunday, Mar. 3rd.
Players Mentioned
