University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
IC4A Championship
Huskies Win IC4A for Three-Peat
3/8/2020 4:38:00 PM | Men's Track and Field
BOSTON, Mass. – The UConn Huskies wrapped up their third-straight IC4A Championship on Sunday afternoon, pulling away from the field with 127.50 points, besting the next closest team by 42.5 points. It is the fifth IC4A team championship for the UConn men's program (2020, 2019, 2018, 2013, 2011).
The Huskies wrapped up the weekend with two individual IC4A titles and a pair of relay titles as well as 10 All-East performances. On Saturday, the Huskies also had a pair of school record breaking performances in the 5,000 meters to help put a cap on a tremendous indoor season.
"It was a great meet, great competition," said director of cross country and track & field Greg Roy. "William & Mary really brought it and we had to put it away in the second half of today's meet. Our relays did a dynamite job. We really competed well and went out and got the job done today."
"David, really dramatic, won it today on his last jump," said Roy. "With all the men and women's team right there, relays getting ready to start, and he hit it and we just went nuts."
Freshman David Ajama (Lowell, Mass.) followed up his win at last week's AAC Championship by winning the IC4A triple jump title on Sunday. On the track, UConn's 4x400 and 4x800 relay teams also took home gold over the weekend. Junior Jordan Torney (Toms River, N.J.) won the heptathlon on Saturday.
Overall, the Huskies won four team championships this indoor season, claiming the Harvard Beantown Challenge, the Columbia Challenge, the New England Championship and now the IC4A Championship.
"So impressed with the men, winning it the third year in the row," stated Roy. "We really developed, both teams, this weekend. The dynamic from both our teams was great. Really picking each other up all weekend."
"We held the top-spot in the rankings in the region all season, just a tremendous season for us."
Highlights:
On the Track…
- The UConn 4x800 relay team of junior Brian Camillieri (Pearl River, N.Y.), freshmen Marzio Mastroianni (Branford, Conn.), Stephen Sutton (Tolland, Conn.) and junior Omar Gebril (North Haven, Conn.) took home gold and did it with the fastest time by a group of Huskies this season. The foursome clocked in at 7:30.69.
- In the 4x400, the sophomore foursome of Adam Khriss (Secaucus, N.J.), Noah Woodman (Hampstead, N.H.), Safir Scott (Greenwich, Conn.), and Ventura brought home gold by clocing in at 3:11.45, also the fastest UConn time this season.
- For the second-straight year, sophomore Wellington Ventura (Cresskill, N.J.) was the runner-up in the 400 meters. Ventura was second in Sunday's final with a time of 47.32 seconds. Ventura set a new UConn school record in the event at last year's meet.
- Junior Tyler Gleen (Shelton, Conn.) had his best-ever IC4A finish in the 800 meters, taking home a second-place finish with a time of 1:50.23. Gleen was fifth in last year's race.
- Junior Eric Van Der Els (Norwalk, Conn.) took fourth in the mile, clocking in at 4:05.99.
- Freshman Joseph O'Brien (Shrewsbury, Mass.) was fourth in the 200 meters, clocking in at 21.53 seconds. He was followed by sophomore Aaron Hackett (Upper Marlboro, Md.) who also scored with a seventh-place finish at 21.59 seconds, a brand-new PR for the sophomore.
- Sophomore Josiah Thompson (Jamaica, N.Y.) took fifth in the 60-meter dash with a time of 6.90 seconds.
- Junior Colt Nichols (Portsmouth, R.I.) took sixth in the 500 meters, posting a time of 1:03.61.
- The Huskies' distance medley relay team of junior Joshua Bedard (Tolland, Conn.), sophomore Gregory Clark (Quaker Hill, Conn.), Gleen and Van Der Els nearly made it a clean sweep of the relays, finishing second with a time of 9:57.35.
- The duo of junior James Maniscalco (Fairfield, Conn.) and senior Kyle Brackman (Berkeley Heights, N.J.) both scored for the Huskies in the 5,000 meters in school record breaking fashion. Maniscalco was the second-place finisher, taking silver by demolishing his previous PR of 14:24.28, set last week. The sophomore came in at 13:55.80 on Saturday. Brackman was in fifth place with a time of 13:59.00. The duo beat the previous record of 14:13.89 that was set by George Diettrich back in 1994.
In the Field…
- Ajama rounded out the indoor season by completing the trifecta, adding an IC4A triple jump crown to his AAC and New England titles won earlier this season. Ajama bested the field with a leap of 15.55 meters (51'0.25"), his second best jump this season.
- In the shot put, juniors Todd Stueber (Toms River, N.J.) and Matthew Brady (Biddeford, Maine) scored for the Huskies with a fifth and eighth place finish, respectively. Stueber recorded a throw of 17.26 meters (56'7.50") to set a new PR in the final event of indoor season. Brady registered a throw of 16.45 meters (53'11.75").
- In the pole vault, freshman Travis Snyder (Saco, Maine) took home a third-place finish in his first IC4A meet. Snyder cleared the bar at 5.05 meters (16'6.75") to lead four Huskies who all scored in the event.
- Sophomore Tyler Hrbek (Northvale, N.J.) had a sixth-place finish and just missed a new PR, coming in at 4.85 meters (15'11.0"). Junior Devon McShane (Madison, Conn.) was seventh at 4.70 meters (15'5.0") and sophomore Marc DeLuca (Stamford, Conn.) who also cleared that height and was eighth.
Players Mentioned
