University of Connecticut Athletics
Four Huskies Advance Automatically to NCAA Championships
5/31/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track and Field
FAIRFAX, VA (May 31) - Joe Mendel placed third in the 400 meters to highlight the University of Connecticut men’s track and field teams’ competition on Saturday at the first ever NCAA East Regional, held at George Mason Stadium in Fairfax, Va. This year marks the first time that the NCAA has gone to a regional format for track and field and the East region is by far the largest, encompassing 110 men’s and 112 women’s track and field teams from Maine to Florida. Mendel will be joined at the NCAA Championship by teammate Mike Deiber who qualified yesterday for the nationals in the high jump, Will Thomas in the decathlon and Paul Pisano in the javelin throw.
Connecticut placed 13th amongst the 110 competing men’s teams by scoring 17 points in the meet. Florida ran away with the region’s top spot by accumulating 99 points. The Husky men placed first amongst New England schools and second amongst BIG EAST schools, trailing just ninth place Villanova.
To advance to the NCAA nationals, a competitor must place in the top five of his or her event at the regional or earn an at-large "wild card" bid by posting one of the six to eight top times from amongst the combined four regions. Mendel qualified for the NCAA Championships by placing third in the 400 meters with a time of 45.94. Pisano placed fourth in the javelin with a throw of 70 meters even. Joel Legare will be in contention for a wild card berth in the 800 meters after placing seventh in a good time of 1:48.93.
The final round of the NCAA Championships will be held from June 11-14 at Sacramento State.
UCONN FINISHERS
EVENT NAME PLACE TIME/MARK
400 meter dash Joe Mendel 3rd 45.94
800 meter run Joel Legare 7th 1:48.93
Steeplechase Ken Goglas 15th 9:11.62
Pole vault Will Thomas n/a No Mark
Javelin throw Paul Pisano 4th 70.00m
Triple jump Mark Godoy 26th 14.56m
High jump Mike Deibler 3rd 2.16m
