University of Connecticut Athletics
UConn in First After Day One of New England Championship
2/22/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track and Field
BOSTON, MA -- In the first day of competition at the New England Indoor Championship, the University of Connecticut men’s track and field team stormed to the early lead, posting 66 points to outdistance Northeastern, who had 30.
The Huskies were paced by three first-place performances, highlighted by sophomore Chris Mazza (Toms River, NJ), who posted a school record of 16’6” in the pole vault en route to the individual victory. Mazza was one of three Husky point scorers in the pole vault, as sophomores Will Thomas (Wakefield, RI) and Joe DiCola (Courtland Manor, NY) placed third and fifth, respectively.
Junior Mark Jellison (Reading, MA) posted a victory in the long jump with 23’31/2”, followed by freshman Ron Cook (Philadelphia, PA) and sophomore Brian Egy (Millis, MA), who went third and fourth, respectively. The distance medley team also took home top honors, cruising to first place with a time of 10:06.21.
Other Husky point scorers included junior Mike Deibler (Monroe, NY), who was fourth in the high jump, freshman Chad Caldwell (Bayport, NY), who was second in the pentathlon, DiCola, who placed sixth in the pentathlon, junior Brian Hartley (Norwalk, CT), who was fourth in the weight throw and senior Jeremy Rice (Old Saybrook, CT), who finished sixth in the weight throw.
On a day with primarily preliminary heats, several Huskies advanced to the finals, to be held Saturday: junior Joe Mendel (200m), senior Adebo Oshodi (200m), sophomore Chris Charles (200m), senior Gabe DeLeon (500m), sophomore James Tremblay (800m), junior Joel Legare (800m), senior Elliott Blount (1,000m), sophomore Bereshith Adams (1,000m) and senior Dan Wilson (mile). Wilson’s trials effort of 4:01.72 in the mile broke the school record and was a provisional qualifier for the NCAA.
In other track preliminary action, the following athletes advanced to the semifinals of their respective events, also to be held Saturday: Jellison (55m hurdles), freshman Mike Delgado (55m hurdles), junior Ricky Gross (55m hurdles), Charles (55m) and Oshodi (55m).
UConn has won eight consecutive New England Indoor titles.
Team Standings
1. Connecticut 66
2. Northeastern 30
3. MIT 21
4. Wheaton 20
5. Tufts 14
