University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
New England Championship
UConn Wins Sixth Straight New England Championship
2/26/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track and Field
Feb. 26, 2011
BOSTON, Mass. - For the sixth consecutive season the University of Connecticut men's track and field team was victorious at the New England Championship, winning the title with 119.5 points. Rhode Island finished second with 61.5 points as the Huskies brought home the crown for the 17th time in the past 18 seasons.
"We had some really great performances today from everyone on the team," head coach Greg Roy said. "We were in a good position coming in to day two and we continued to improve on our standing as multiple athletes set personal bests. Hopefully we will be able to use this meet next week when we compete at the IC4A Championship."
The Huskies were led on day two of the championship by Aaron King, Mike Alleman, Noel James and Mike Rutt as they each won their respective events. Rutt was victorious in the 800 meter run, finishing in a New England Championship record and NCAA qualifying time of 1:47.41. As of Saturday night, Rutt's 800 time is the sixth fastest among NCAA Division I athletes and is also a new UConn record.
King won the heptathlon with 5,202 points, as he won the 60 meter dash (7.27), long jump (6.76m), shot put (13.67m) and 60 meter hurdle (8.38) events, while Sam Smith finished sixth for the huskies with 4,628 points and Sean Walsh placed eighth with 4,443 points.
Alleman was victorious in the shot put, winning the event with a throw of 17.19 meters, while James won the high jump with a clearance of 2.13 meters.
The Huskies placed two, three, four in the 60 meter dash as Kashif Moore was second in a time of 6.87, Jesse Drinks was third with a 6.90 and Darnell Cummings was fourth, finishing in 6.92. All three Huskies bettered their times from earlier this season and also recorded personal best times.
UConn also had two top-five finishers in the 200 meter dash, with Cummings finishing fourth in 21.59 and Drinks placing fifth in a time of 21.72. Scott Johnson, Tim Bennatan and Chris Whyte recorded the final top-five finishes for the Huskies, Johnson taking fourth in the mile run (4:14.35), Bennatan also placing fourth in the 800 meter run (1:49.60) and Whyte placing fifth in the 500 meter dash (1:04.29).
The 4x400 meter relay team of Kyle Edmonds, Paul DeSalvo, Kyle Twombly and Whyte also placed fourth, finishing in 3:16.14.
Next up for the Huskies will is the IC4A Championship in Boston, Mass. taking place on Friday (March 5) and Saturday (March 6).
Players Mentioned
