University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
NCAA East Prelim
Safir Scott and Travis Snyder Qualify for NCAA Championship
5/26/2021 9:51:00 PM | Men's Track and Field
STORRS, Conn. – The first day of the NCAA East Preliminaries are in the books and a pair of Huskies are moving on to the NCAA Championship meet next month. UConn senior Safir Scott (Greenwich, Conn.) and sophomore Travis Snyder (Saco, Maine) both punched their tickets to Eugene, Oregon for the NCAA title meet, qualifying in the long jump and pole vault, respectively.
The UConn men opened competition on Wednesday and will be in action again on Friday at the University of North Florida's Visit Jax Track at Hodges Stadium.
Both Scott and Snyder secured top-12 finishes on Wednesday to earn their spot in the championship on June 9-12. Â The duo joins UConn senior Jordan Torney (Toms River, N.J.) who has already qualified for the championship in the decathlon.
"A tremendous day for Safir who had a lifetime best on his last jump of the competition," stated associate head coach Rich Miller. "Safir had a plan and executed it to perfection. Travis was great today and had some of the best jumps I have ever seen from him. Both competed with such composure. These guys have been looking ahead to and preparing for this meet all year. It was awesome to see them do what they did today."
In the long jump, Scott finished in sixth place overall and had his best jump of the day on his final attempt to make the cut. The senior came up with a leap of 7.64 meters, setting a new PR and also coming close to the school record as well (7.69m – Mike Christy/1996). Scott will have a chance to also qualify in the triple jump when he competes on Friday. During his freshman season in 2018, Scott went to the NCAA Championship in the high jump.
In the pole vault, Snyder took ninth overall in the field and cleared a height of 5.25 meters on his second attempt. Snyder passed at the opening height and then cleared 5.00m and 5.15m on his first attempts.Â
On the track, junior Wellington Ventura (Cresskill, N.J.) moved on to the quarterfinals in the 400-meter hurdles on Friday night. Ventura had the 11th fastest time in the first round, where the top-24 move on to the quarters. He was .02 away from his fastest time ever, clocking in at 50.99 seconds. If he finishes in the top-12 on Friday he will move on to the NCAA Championship.
"Alas Wellington Ventura had a great race today advancing to the next round in the 400 hurdles on Friday," commented Miller. "Wellington was very aggressive from the start to finish. It was not a perfect technical race but ran as tough as i have seen him run. I can't wait to see what he can do on Friday."
Wednesday's Other Results:
- In the Javelin – junior Michael Jeffers (Clifton Park, N.Y.) just missed a qualifying spot at the championship by finishing 15th overall. Jeffers had a throw of 67.31 meters. Classmate Colin Winkler (Barkhamsted, Conn.) was 42nd with a throw of 59.78 meters.
- In the Hammer – junior Chris Keegan (West Hartford, Conn.) finished 40th with a throw of 57.79 meters.
- In the Pole Vault – junior Tyler Hrbek (Northvale, N.J.) was tied for 37th overall clearing a height of 4.85 meters.
- In the Shot Put – seniors Todd Stueber (Toms River, N.J.) and Matthew Brady (Biddeford, Maine) finished 41st (16.72m) and 43rd (16.56m), respectively.
- In the 110-meter hurdles – freshman Terrel Williams (Maplewood, N.J.) finished 31st and just missed a new PR by .02 seconds, clocking in at 14.04 seconds.
- In the 200 meters – sophomore Joseph O'Brien (Shrewsbury, Mass.) was 46th in the first round at 21.69 seconds.
- In the 800 meters – sophomore Stephen Sutton (Tolland, Conn.) was 43rd in the first round with a time of 1:52.85.
Players Mentioned
