University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
BIG EAST Championship
King And Unger Bring Home Titles At BIG EAST Championship
5/7/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track and Field
May 7, 2011
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - The duo of Aaron King and Jesse Chapman placed one-two in the decathlon at the 2011 BIG EAST Outdoor Championship to earn 18 points for the Huskies as they currently stand in second place in the team standings with 64 overall points. King won the decathlon with 7,042 points, while Chapman placed second with 6,643 points. Cody Unger won his first BIG EAST title in the javelin, posting a mark of 70.19m, beating the next finisher by three meters.
"We have had a good two days so far, both with results and moving athletes to the finals," head coach Greg Roy said. "We had great performances in the decathlon and the javelin today, with both events scoring some points for us. Josh also had a good performance in the hammer throw yesterday for us, and Scott ran a good race in the 3,000 steeplechase to get a good finish. We are in decent shape going into the final day. Between the teams that are in the front of the pack it is going to come down to who gets things done head-to-head."
With his victory in the decathlon, King became the first-ever BIG EAST athlete to win both the indoor heptathlon and the outdoor decathlon at the BIG EAST Championships in the same season. Earlier this year he won the heptathlon at the BIG EAST Indoor Championship with 5,444 points.
During day two, King was victorious in the 110m hurdles (14.87) and in the discus, where he had a season-best mark of 42.34m. Chapman finished in the top-four in all five events on day two, including a first place finish in the javelin, where he had a season-best throw of 52.35m. He also had second-place finishes in the 110m hurdles (15.53) and the discus (35.46m).
Sean Walsh placed sixth in his first BIG EAST decathlon, earning 6,075 points throughout both days. Walsh just got edged out in the 1,500m run after posting a season-best time of 4:27.32, while he also placed fourth in the 110m hurdles (15.99) and the javelin (44.25m).
Unger's throw of 70.19m in the javelin marked the third longest throw in BIG EAST Championship history. He was joined by Eric Alfiere and Ed Strosnick in the top-six in the javelin, Alfiere placing fifth with a mark of 59.75m and Strosnick placing sixth with a throw of 58.37m.
Noel James brought home a third place finish in the high jump, posting a height of 2.13m, which marks a UConn best for the season. All three of the first finishers ended the day with a height of 2.13m, but James ended in third due to the jumpoff.
Mike Alleman and Scott Johnson also earned points for the Huskies on day two of the BIG EAST Championship, placing third in the shot put and fourth in the 3,000m steeplechase respectively. Alleman had a mark of 17.33m, his second best mark of the year in the shot put, while Johnson finished the steeplechase in a time of 9:05.18.
Three UConn sprinters qualified for the 100m dash finals tomorrow, including Jesse Drinks who won his heat with a season-best time of 10.61. Kevin Smith ran a UConn season-best time of 10.53, while Darnell Cummings posted a 10.54 to also qualify.
The duo of Mike Rutt and Dan Holst qualified for the 800m run final, Rutt winning his heat with a time of 1:52.95 and Holst qualifying on time, with a 1:52.93. Also qualifying for finals for the Huskies were Kyle Edmonds in the 400m hurdles (52.80) and Cummings (21.41) and Drinks (21.46) in the 200m dash.
The 2011 BIG EAST Outdoor Championship will conclude tomorrow, beginning with the pole vault at 10:00 a.m. and the 4x100m relay at 11:15 a.m.
Players Mentioned
