University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
UConn Spring Invite
Huskies Win 2021 Opener
3/26/2021 6:03:00 PM | Men's Track and Field
STORRS, Conn. – The UConn men's track & field team kicked-off the 2021 outdoor season on Friday winning the UConn Spring Invite, the first of three home meets this spring.
UConn piled up 280 points over the 19 scored events to get the win. Army West Point was second with 152 points, SCSU was third with 57 points and Northeastern was fourth with 25 points.
The Huskies won seven events on the track and four field events on Friday.
"I think you saw a lot of pent-up, competitive energy today," stated Director of Cross Country and Track & Field Greg Roy. "Our top-end, just amazing performances today. Great on the track, big throws too. First time out this year, as a team, just fantastic today. Great start to the season. Across the board, we competed well, really couldn't ask for anything more than this."
On the track…
- The Huskies opened the meet with a pair of victories in the 3000-meter steeple chase and the 1,500 meters. Sophomore Christopher Lepore (Trumbull, N.Y.) closed the on the final stretch to edge out Allen Sparks of Army by .20 at the line, clocking in at 9:27.40.
- Junior Wellington Ventura (Cresskill, N.J.) won the 400-meter hurdles and set a new PR by almost three seconds. Ventura turned in a time of 51.70 seconds.
- In the 200 meters, junior Noah Woodman (Hampstead, N.H.) won with a new PR, coming in at 21.01 seconds. Sophomore Conor Mahoney was fourth and his best-ever time in the event at 22.01 seconds.
- In the 1,500 Stephen Sutton (Tolland, Conn.) grabbed the lead right down the stretch and came home with a win in 3:51.81.
- Senior Safir Scott (Greenwich, Conn.) recorded a new PR while winning the 400 meters. Scott bested the field with a time of 47.21. Freshman Caleb Owen (New Haven, Conn.) took third with a time of 48.72 seconds.
- Sophomore Joseph O'Brien (Shrewsbury, Mass.) earned his first career victory in the 100 meters, posting a time of 10.46 seconds.
- Sophomore Kevin Cawley (Massapequa, N.Y.) ran his first 5,000 meters with the Huskies and grabbed a win with a time of 14:43.41.
In the field…
- Junior Chris Keegan (West Hartford, Conn.) won the hammer throw and did so with a huge PR in the event. Keegan bested the field with a heave of 63.13 meters. His previous best mark came at the AAC Championship in 2019 at 50.25 meters.
- UConn got a win in the shot put as well as senior Todd Stueber (Toms River, N.J.) won with a toss of 17.60 meters.
- The Huskies went one-two in the pole vault with sophomore junior Tyler Hrbek (Northvale, N.J.) winning with a new PR height of 5.00 meters. Classmate Travis Snyder (Saco, Maine) was second, also coming in at the height of 5.00 meters.
- UConn also grabbed the top two spots in the high jump led by senior Daniel Claxton (Nesconset, N.Y.) who cleared a height of 2.09 meters. Classmate Benjamin Grosse (Wayzata, Minn.) who had a height of 2.05 meters.
- In the javelin, sophomore Tanner Jameson (Durham, Conn.) finished second overall with a throw of 63.66 meters. Junior Michael Jeffers (Clifton Park, N.Y.) was right there in third and recorded a new PR with a throw of 63.00 meters.
- Stueber and Matthew Brady (Biddeford, Maine) finished 2-3 in the discus. Stueber had a throw of 49.48 meters while Brady recorded a new PR with a toss of 48.00 meters. Keegan recorded another new PR as well with a throw of 41.42 meters to finish eighth.
- Freshman Richmond Kwaateng (Lowell, Mass.) got his first chance to long jump outdoors this season and was second with his top-leap at 7.04 meters.
Players Mentioned
