University of Connecticut Athletics
Five Huskies to Compete in NCAA Championships
6/4/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track and Field
The University of Connecticut men’s track and field team will be sending five athletes to the NCAA Championship meet in Sacramento, Calif. to compete from June 11-14. In most events, the top five finishers in Regional Competition advance to the finals. Those who do not automatically qualify may receive a “wild card” entry by posting one of the six to eight top marks from amongst the combined four regions. Mike Deibler, Joel Legare, Joe Mendel, Paul Pisano and Will Thomas will represent the Huskies as three of them (Mendel, Pisano and Thomas) will attempt to earn their second All-America accolades.
Deibler, a senior high jumper from Monroe, N.Y., makes his first trip to the finals. In the outdoor season, he claimed his second-straight BIG EAST title. He tied for third at the NCAA East Regional with a career-high jump of 2.16 meters (7'1") to automatically qualify for competition in Sacramento. Deibler also earned seven first-place jumps in his final indoor season with the Huskies. He is a four-time BIG EAST Champion in the event, earning the title in the indoor and outdoor in 2002 and 2003. As a senior, he also took first at the New England Indoor Championship meet and placed second at the IC4A Indoor Championships. Deibler also excels academically, as he was named to the Verizon Academic All-District First Team in 2002 and 2003 as well as the 2002 Verizon Academic All-America Second Team and is a three-time BIG EAST Academic All-Star.
Distance-runner Legare hails from Holden, Mass. and will compete in the 800-meter run. He earned a "wild card" bid into the meet after posting a seventh place regional time of 1:48.93. Legare claimed five first-place finishes out of the nine times he participated in the finals this season. Included is a New England Indoor Championship title in the 800 with a time of 1:50.40 and a Hugh S. Greer Field House record on 1:51.67, also in the 800 meter. In the outdoor season, Legare placed third at the BIG EAST Championship meet and broke a George J. Sherman Family Sports Complex record in the 800 at an early-season home meet, which was later broken at the BE Champs by five runners, including Legare.
Mendel, a senior co-captain for both the indoor and outdoor squads, is among an elite group of UConn's 18 All-American Athletes in men's track and field. From Wayne, N.J., Mendel has helped the Huskies to four New England Indoor Championships and a sweep of the BIG EAST Championships in the 2001-02 season. As a senior, Mendel and the Huskies earned UConn's tenth-consecutive New England Indoor Title as he garnered an individual championship title in the 400-meter. He also earned a BIG EAST title in the same event. Mendel ran a personal best 1:03.44 in the 500-meter in the Huskies' first home meet in four years. He placed second in the IC4A 400-meter preliminaries with a season-best run of 46.89 seconds. In the outdoor season, he ran to six top-three finishes in three different events (100, 200 and 400-meter dashes), including an IC4A Championship in the 400. In his junior year, Mendel earned All-American accolades in the indoor 400-meter, finishing with a time of 47.36 seconds. He earned the BIG EAST title in the 400 in the outdoor season. Mendel was a part of record-breaking relay squads in the 4x100, 4x200 and 4x400 meter. His personal best run of 45.94 in the 400, achieved at the NCAA East Regional to qualify him for a trip to Sacramento, is also a school record.
Junior Pisano, a 2002 All-American in the javelin throw, will compete in that event again. The native of Toms River, N.J. is a two-time BIG EAST Champion in the javelin and picked up two more first-place finishes in his senior season with the Huskies. He threw a season-best 70.00 meters (229'8") at the NCAA regional to advance to the finals in Sacramento. In the indoor season, he competed in the shot put, qualifying for the BIG EAST and IC4A Championships in the event and threw a personal best 51'3" at the BIG EAST meet. Pisano is also a UConn Scholar Athlete Award recipient and a member of the Dean's List.
Thomas, another junior, earned an All-America honor in the decathlon in 2002, making him only the second UConn men's multi-event athlete to earn such a distinction. From Wakefield, R.I., Thomas accumulated a career-high 7819 points at the BIG EAST Championships in 2003 to earn the men's "Most Outstanding Performer" honor while claiming his third straight decathlon title, shattering his previous BIG EAST record of 7332 points. His performance ranked him fourth in collegiate leaders this year. Thomas also competed in the high jump and pole vault in the competition, placing fourth and eighth, respectively. He then went on to win the IC4A decathlon with 7552 points, beating the second place competitor by 406 points. In the indoor season, he competed in the USA Indoor Heptathlon, placing fourth with 5669 points. Thomas competed in the shot put and placed sixth in the pole vault at the New England Championships and broke the BIG EAST meet record in the pentathlon with 3960 points. He is also a dean's list student at UConn and a recipient of the Scholar Athlete Award. A consistent points-scorer for UConn, Thomas holds UConn's records in the pentathlon, heptathlon and decathlon.
for a full schedule of events.
