University of Connecticut Athletics
Huskies Finish Up Day Two at Penn Relays
4/24/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track and Field
PHILADELPHIA -- The UConn women's track & field team finished off day two of competition at the 121st Penn Relays in Franklin Park on Thursday, highlighted by strong performances in the jumps.  The historic meet will continue on Saturday.
Senior Natasha McLaren, who recorded the top collegiate finish at the Larry Ellis Invitational last weekend, shined in the high jump on Friday afternoon, taking eighth overall with a 1.74m leap, finishing just 0.01m shy of her season-high.ÂÂ
After collecting a 49th-place finish in the long jump on Thursday, Melodee Riley grabbed 37th in the triple jump final with a 11.31m result that was just 0.27m short of her season-best.ÂÂ
Odrine Belot nabbed her second top-20 finish of the weekend when she notched 10th in the triple jump championship final with an 11.91m leap.ÂÂ
NBC Sports Network will televise Saturday's "USA vs. The World" events at the Penn Relays live from 12:30-3 p.m. ET as part of the 2015 USA Track & Field Championship Series. Flotrack will provide live streaming video of all events on the track not featured during NBC Sports Network's "USA vs. The World" broadcast through its "Flo Pro" premium service at www.flotrack.org.ÂÂ
On Thursday, defending American Athletic Conference Field Athlete of the Week Sarah Bowens picked up a fourth-place finish in the long jump championship with a 6.10m result. Connecticut's `A' 4x400m relay team (Nyanka Joseph, Faith Dismuke, Paris Taft, Deysha Smith-Jenkins) qualified for the ECAC final on Saturday at 5:45 p.m. with a 13th place result (3:46.92) in the heats and two Huskies, Belot and Melodee Riley, nabbed top-50 finishes in the long jump. Belot took 16th with a 5.55m leap, while Riley checked in in 49th with a 5.03m result.ÂÂ
Emily Durgin, who ran in the second heat of the 5,000m run on Thursday night, boasted a season-best 16:45.00 second result.ÂÂ
Wrapping up Thursday's action was the Huskies sprint medley relay team of Smith-Jenkins, Taylor Anderson, Joseph and Kat Vodopia, which took home a sixth-place finish with a time of 3:56.01.ÂÂ
Tickets to this year's Penn Relays are available here. On day one, a crowd of 22,537 traveled to Franklin Park to watch the action on the meet's opening day.ÂÂ
For complete weekend results, please click here. ÂÂ
The team will return to competition on Saturday beginning with the 4x800m championship set to start at 4:10 p.m. ET.
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Players Mentioned
