University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
Columbia Challenge
Huskies Capture Columbia Challenge Title
1/25/2020 11:51:00 PM | Men's Track and Field
NEW YORK, N.Y. – The UConn men's track and field team notched their second team victory of the young indoor season on Saturday, capturing the 2019 Columbia Challenge held at The Armory in New York City.
The Huskies came away with the team win in a field of 18 teams thanks to 82 total points, putting them past UCLA in second with 61 points and Harvard in third with 59. The Huskies opened the spring semester by winning the Harvard Beantown Challenge.
"It was a good win for us against some very good schools," stated director of cross country and track & field Greg Roy. "It was really a team win. I think we scored in just about every event and in some places we had multiple scorers, so we had a really nice team competition. Some high-level performances against some really good competition. "Sebastian Castano with a great job in the throw today, he just came back today and he's been really going hard. That was a big deal for him. It was a big meet and he stepped up. That was a highlight from my perspective."
"This is still early in the season; we are still five weeks away from conference championships" said Roy. "The good news is that we won, the better news is that we have a lot we can do with this. There are places we still need to tighten up. It's hard to single one person out because it was such a great team effort."
MEET HIGHLIGHTS (DAY 2):
On the track…
- Senior Kyle Brackman (Berkley Heights, N.J.) finished third in the 3000 meters and posted the fastest time in the AAC this season at 8:10.29.
- R-Junior Eric Van Der Els (Norwalk, Conn.), running the mile, grabbed a second-place finish 4:08.45, putting him third in the AAC rankings.
- Sophomore Wellington Ventura (Cresskill, N.J.) was fourth in the 400 meters in running the even for the first time this indoor season, clocking in at 48.42 seconds
- Freshman Joseph O'Brien (Shrewsbury, Mass.) ran fifth in the 200 meters and posted a new PR with a 21.74 second clocking.
- 4x400 team of O'Brien, Noah Woodman (Hampstead, N.H.), Tyler Gleen (Shelton, Conn.) and Ventura was third 3:13.85
- Gleen ran the 800 meters and turned in the second fastest time in the AAC this indoor season so far at 1:52.08.
In the field…
- Senior Sebastian Castro (Cresskill, N.J.) was second in the weight throw and recorded a new PR in the event, recording a toss of 19.02 meters (62'5").
- Junior Daniel Claxton (Nesoncset, N.Y.) was second in the high jump at 2.05 meters.
- Freshman Travis Snyder (Saco, Maine) was sixth in the pole vault clearing a height of 4.95 meters.
UP NEXT FOR THE HUSKIES:
UConn will move on to the New England Championships next weekend in Boston at the Reggie Lewis Center where they will look to defend their title.
"New England's is a big meet," commented Roy. "You have to win New England's first, it's your neighborhood. We take it very seriously and for a lot of kids it's a real developmental stepping stone competition. You look at the roster and where everybody is from, we've got a lot of kids from the area and this is a big deal for them. It's an important meet and it's important for us to keep developing."
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Players Mentioned
