Huskies Dominate for Second-Straight Beantown Challenge Title

Saturday, January 11

Cambridge, Mass.

11:30 AM

University of Connecticut

Beantown Challenge

Photo by: ©Kelly Ross

Huskies Dominate for Second-Straight Beantown Challenge Title

1/11/2020 10:29:00 PM | Men's Track and Field

Final Results

Beantown Challenge Final Results

BOSTON, Mass. – The UConn men's track & field team went to work on Saturday at their first scored meet of the 2020 indoor season and took care of business, capturing their second-straight Beantown Challenge championship at Harvard University's Gordon Indoor Track.

The Huskies piled up a total of 216.5 points and bested the field of nine squads from the northeast in host Harvard, who was second with 85 points, and UMass Lowell, Brown, Northeastern, Boston College, Massachusetts, Holy Cross and Stonehill.

UConn had five individual event winners while also grabbing a win in the 4x880 relay.

"For an opener, it's been over a month without competition, we came back and worked hard and we got a great total team performance today," stated director of cross country and track & field Greg Roy. "I thought we were pretty good on the way up here, and today, I thought we were a much better team coming home. If we keep that up, we are going to be pretty darn good."

"Our throwers, in general, had a great weekend," said Roy. "A big throw from (Matt) Brady in the shot and Cam (Thompson) and (Christopher) Keegan in the weight throw on Friday with PR's. I look at (Travis) Snyder in the pole vault, gets his first win, and freshman David Ajama in the triple jump, both doing a great job. And Jordan (Torney) had a great weekend pulling a double in the hurdles and long jump."

"On the track, the 500 was a great race for all our guys with Wellington (Ventura) leading the way," commented Roy. "Look at Kyle Brackman who won the mile going away and (Aaron) Hackett, who had a tough freshman year, great job today and got his first career win in the 200 meters."

MEET HIGHLIGHTS:

On the track…

Senior captain Kyle Brackman (Berkeley Heights, N.J.) ran away with a win in the mile, posting a new personal best time of 4:11.30.
Sophomore Aaron Hackett (Upper Marlboro, Md.) got his first collegiate win as he took home the top spot in the 200 meters with a time of 21.79 seconds, a new PR.
Sophomore Wellington Ventura (Cresskill, N.J.) led four Huskies who finished in the top-8 in the 500 meters. Ventura won the race with a time of 1:04.07
Freshman Josiah Thompson (Jamaica, N.Y.) was 2nd in the 60-meter dash at 6.88 seconds
In the 60 m hurdles, sophomore Xavier Smith (West Windsor,N.J.) and r-junior Jordan Torney (Toms River, N.J.) both set new personal bests, finishing 3rd 8.09) and 5th (8.16), respectively
Junior Eric Van Der Els (Norwalk, Conn.) ran for the first time since cross country and took second in the 3000 meters with a time of 8:36.93.

In the field…

Senior Cameron Thompson (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y.) got his first win of the season in the weight throw and established a new personal best. Thompson took home gold with a heave of 18.51 meters (60'8.75"), topping his previous best of 17.90 meters set at this meet last year.
Rookie Travis Snyder (Saco, Maine) earned his first collegiate win in the pole vault, clearing a height of 5.20 meters (17'0.75"), leading three Huskies who scored in the event.
Torney took 2nd in the long jump. The r-junior captain came in as the top-performer in the AAC in the event and turned a jump of 7.00 meters (22'11.75").
Junior Daniel Claxton (Nesconset, N.Y.) got his second-straight win in the high jump and turned in a season-best height of 2.13 meters (6'11.75").
Junior Matthew Brady (Biddeford, Maine) set a new personal best in taking 2^nd in the shot put. Brady had a throw of 17.59 meters (57'8.50").
Freshman David Ajama (Lowell, Mass.) recorded a 3rd place finish in the triple jump in his first collegiate meet
Junior Christopher Keegan (West Hartford, Conn.) also posted a new PR in the weight throw, taking fourth with a throw of 17.45 meters (57'3.00").