The UConn Club Track Squad was back in full force at ‘The Track’ this weekend, after a smaller reconnaissance unit competed a fortnight ago. The Black Sheep Invitational, hosted by Hampshire College, was a huge success for the team, and kick starts a four week stretch of weekly competitions. The addition of a handful of RunUC athletes was also a welcome addition, only adding to the sea of blue and white across every event at the meet.
Sprints
The action began on the straightaway, with the 60 meter flat and hurdles. One of the stars of the show was president Joe Rychwalski, who ran a stellar club record of 7.06 seconds. The senior felt “electric,” and is not showing any signs of slowing down. Alanna Smith also wrote herself into the UCCTF history books, running a new club record of 8.15 seconds. She will certainly look to break the 8 second barrier before the outdoor season kicks off. A testament to the depth of the squad is the fact that six UCCTF athletes competed n the final of the 60 meters. This included Brandon Drummond and Ava Buckmir, both of whom ran new personal records. Kayla Smith and Jon Garcia were the other finalists, both running season’s bests in the process.
In the hurdles, MJ Devivo ran a 10.21 second personal record, and also ran a 10.22 in the final. Eric Meade also made the final in the men’s race, running an 8.96 second clocking. This was a small personal record for the Freshman.
In the one lap race, four of the best athletes in the club battled it out in the first heat. Nick Sivo (22.83) bested Joe Rychwalski (22.83), with the pair finishing first and second
overall in the event. Ameen Parks (22.91) was not far off the pace, with Nikolai James (23.18) chasing their tails. This quartet will certainly be exciting to watch in the coming weeks. The women also had an incredible quartet in the 200 meters. Alanna Smith (26.67) finished first overall, running her second club record of the day in the process. Kayla Smith ran a 27.42 clocking, with MJ Devivo hot on her heels with a time of 27.72 seconds. Ava Buckmir also came sixth overall, running 27.93 seconds.
Nick Sivo was also top of the pile in the 400m, running a bittersweet 50.04 second clocking. Agonisingly close to breaking the 50 second barrier, Sivo will be back stronger in a few weeks time ready to go even faster. Nikolai James also featured in the fastest heats of the day, running a 50.59 second effort. Jon Gulish ran a personal record of 51.66 seconds, rewarding his incredible recent form at practice. Celestine Walliser ran well on the women’s side, winning her heat and running just short of a personal record.
Mid-D
Brooke Sheehan stole the show for the women with a fantastic personal record of 2:40.89 in the 800 meters. Her battle with fundraising chair Giuliana Vinces is still highly anticipated, and will hopefully materialize in the coming weeks. Emma Slavin also ran close to a personal record in the mile, which showed signs of a solid transition from RunUC to the track.
RunUC were hugely prevalent in the results for the Mid-D men. Owen Wollenberg ran a fantastic 2:01.78 in the 800m as the fastest men’s finisher. Cody Stone was very close behind with a 2:03.59 clocking, with Tommy Purcell also running a personal record for RunUC. In the mile, Wollenberg (4:23.51) was also the fastest finisher, with Stone (4:33.89), Austin Muzzy (4:41.16), Owen Corbett (4:40.06) and Colin Slavin (4:29.26) also running personal records. Michael Johnson (5:57.92) also ran a massive personal record, bringing back some pride to the Club Track squad in the wake of some RunUC dominance.
Colin Slavin was the highest finisher in the 3000 meters, clocking in at 9:14.15. Andrew Bogatz also ran a personal record of 10:19.42, showing signs of improvement before the outdoor season kicks off.
Field
As usual, UCCTF’s field events team came with numbers. Unfortunately, the invitational had to cap the event at 16 throwers, but nevertheless there were great numbers throughout the meet. In the shot put, Clarissa Nock came away with a victory for UConn, despite throwing short of her personal best. This set the tone for a fantastic throwing performance across the team. Raymond Lara threw a 12.69 meter personal and club record, finishing highly in the final standings. Throwing chair Colton Lavoie also threw an indoor personal record mark of 12.47 meters, despite zeroing in on the field official measuring his efforts.
In the jumps, Tyler Doiron and Eric Meade took home top spots in the high jump, with both athletes clearing 1.90m. This ties the club record, as well as being a personal record for Meade. Bennett Labree also took home top spot in the pole vault, with a clutch 4.15 meter clearance in the jump off. Jumps chair Max Raha was a single centimeter away from victory in the long jump, with an indoor club and personal record of 6.45 meters.
For the women, Karina Huang jumped a personal record in the long jump, with a 4.28 meter effort. April Davis followed up her performance in the 60 meters with a personal record of 9.90 meters in the triple jump. Both athletes showed great potential for future performances down the line.
Overall, it was a characteristically dominant performance from UCCTF, with numerous event victories, club records, and personal records across the squad. The team will travel to West Point next weekend for a UCCTF classic meet, where the squad will have to navigate a flat track and a two hour drive. With meets at Harvard and the Armory also coming up on the horizon, the UConn Club Track and Field team has an exciting end to the indoor season in store.
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