University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
AAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships
Several first-place finishes headline final day of conference meet
5/12/2019 10:29:00 PM | Women's Track and Field
Championship Central | Highlights
WICHITA, Kan.—The UConn women's track and field team made headlines on the third and final day of the 2019 American Athletic Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championship. Kat Surin, Susan Aneno, and the 1600 Meter Relay Team—Kristina Cherrington, Dejanee Parms, Ayoola Gbolade, and Shanelle Colmon—took home gold in their respective events.
Surin competed in the 400 Meter Dash amongst the top competition in the AAC and garnered a first-place finish in the event. With a time of 52.56, she improved her standing from fifth place in this event last year to AAC 400 Meter Dash Indoor & Outdoor Champion.
Kat Surin of @UConnWTrack is your 2019 @American_Conf Women's 400 Dash champion! Surin was also the 400 indoor champion and she has improved from a 5th place finish from last year! pic.twitter.com/jKZmUxtNIb
— American XC Track (@AmericanXCTrack) May 12, 2019
The now three-time 800 Meter conference champion, Aneno showed no sign of slowing on this windy Sunday. Her time of 2:08.58 was not easily met with runners catching up on her heels and the wind whipping directly in her face, she emerged victorious on the day.
And THREE-time champion in the women's 800... @UConnWTrack's Susan Aneno! pic.twitter.com/8HMpbGGA36
— American XC Track (@AmericanXCTrack) May 12, 2019
Aneno was also the anchor for the 4x400 Meter Relay, where the team crossed the finish line at 3:35.06. This finish was several seconds just shy of the conference meet record set in 2014 at 3:32.59. This is the Huskies' first title in this event since 2015. The relay team consisted of Cherrington, Parms, Gbolade, Surin, Colmon, and Aneno.
The final women's event is won by @UConnWTrack! Susan, Aneno, the 800 champion, anchored the 4x4 team to a win, its first in the event since 2015. pic.twitter.com/dojP2gHRP8
— American XC Track (@AmericanXCTrack) May 13, 2019
The 400 Meter Relay (4x100 Meter Relay) Team finished fifth overall with a time of 45.99. The team was comprised of Parms, Colmon, Jiana Baker, Taylor Woods, and Cherrington.
Moving to the middle distance event, Rachel Vick tallied an eighth overall finish in the 1500 Meter Run with a time of 4:35.78. A quintet of Huskies vied for position in the 5000 Meter Run with Sarah Leatherwood leading the way with a time of 17:10.10 to finish seventh overall. Talia Staiger (13th-17:33.93), Haley Hasty (16th-17:42.46), Katelynn Romanchick (21st-17:52.41), and Vick (24th-17:57.84) also aided Leatherwood in obtaining points toward UConn's cause.
Cherrington also competed in the 400 Meter Hurdles and we a school record performance, took home bronze for her time of 59.89.
Off the track, Kelly Ward found herself deadlocked in a tie in the high jump. Her leap of 1.64m (5' 41/2") landed her in sixth place. Gabriella Gavalas finished with a top-20 mark in the triple jump at 11.29m (37' ½").
"We won several events and set a school record in the 400 Meter Hurdles all in the last day of the conference meet. I was proud of our efforts as we put together very solid performances. It was a complete team effort today as we received points from throws, field events, distance, and sprints. Susan continued her winning ways and won another conference title. Kat was dominant in the 400 and our relay team in the 4x400 ran one of the top times in our NCAA East Region. We also garnered points from Kelly and Rachel. Overall, we were a very tough team and I am extremely of our efforts this weekend."
- Head Coach J.J. Clark
Through 21 events scored UConn concluded the meet in fifth place with 64 points. Host Wichita State took home the women's trophy with Cincinnati, SMU, and Memphis closely behind. The Huskies posted five top-5 and eight top-10 finishes on the day.
