Women’s Track & Field: UConn Tops Harvard In Season Opener
(UConn Athletics)
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The UConn women's track & field team got their indoor season started with a victory at the 2022 Beantown Challenge at Harvard on Saturday.
The Huskies finished the seven-team meet with 167 total points to take the top spot, topping host Harvard in second with 100.5 points. "We saw a lot of great things today," commented Director of Cross Country and Track & Field Greg Roy. "First off, we dominated a meet that two years ago we lost by 20-30 points. We are very excited about that. Most importantly, we got better today as a team. A great starting point for both teams coming out of this meet. Looking forward, I am excited after what we saw this weekend."
UConn got victories from senior Mia Nahom (New Milford, Conn.) in the 1000 meters on the track and wins from junior Emma Chee(Bainsbridge Island, Wash.) in the pole vault, setting a new school record, senior Taylor Woods (Marlboro, Md.) in the long jump and junior Patricia Mroczkowski (Berlin, Conn.) in the high jump.
Pentathlon
The Huskies took the second through fourth spots in the pentathlon led by freshman Alyssa Elliott (Banfor, Maine) in her collegiate debut. Elliott totalled 3,290 points over the five events on Friday. Elliott grabbed a pair of wins, taking the 800 meters in a time of 2:23.41 and won the long jump with a leap of 5.56 meters.
Classmate Katelyn Reid (Middletown, N.J.) was third overall with 3266 points and freshman Emma Phelps (Westborough, Mass.) was fourth with 3055 points. On the track… The Huskies dominated the 1000 meters taking the top-three spots with senior Mia Nahom (New Milford, Conn.) who smashed her previous top-time with a clocking of 2:51.79, nearly five seconds off her PR.
In second was freshman Chloe Thomas (Dundas, Ontario) with a time of 2:52.77 and classmate Jenna Zydanowicz (West Hartford, Conn.) was third in 2:54.20. In the 60-meter dash, freshman Jailya Ash (Voorhees, N.J.) was second in her collegiate debut, posting a time of 7.60 seconds. Senior Allie Aslup (Durham, Conn.) was second in the mile with a time of 5:07.95. Junior Sophia Castronovo (Emerson, N.J.) took third in the 500 meters with a time of 1:16.80.
In the relays, UConn's team of Nahom, Thomas, Alsup and Zydanowicz posted a time of 9:15.99 in the 4x880. In the 4x440 relay, Brianna Davis (Bay Shore, N.Y.), Raquel Rosa (Waterbury, Conn.), Elise O'Leary (Milton, Mass.) and Castronovo was second with a time of 4:04.98
In The Field
In the pole vault, junior Emma Chee (Bainbridge Island, Wash.) broke her own school indoor record in grabbing her first win of the season. Chee cleared the bar at 4.11 meters. Freshman Kalli Knott (Erie, Pa.) finished second at 3.41 meters. Junior Patricia Mroczkowski (Berlin, Conn.) opened her indoor season with a win, taking the high jump with a height of 1.78 meters, a new personal best. Senior Kelly Ward (Oxford, Conn.) was third with a height of 1.67 meters. Senior Taylor Woods (Marlboro, Md.) also grabbed a win in her indoor debut, taking the long jump with a leap of 6.26 meters.
In the triple jump, sophomore Felicia Quainoo (Metuchen, N.J.) was second and set a new PR with a leap of 11.74 meters. In the weight throw, junior Mikyla Rodgers (South Huntington, N.Y.) was second with a heave of 18.94 meters. Freshman Natalia Surdej (Lancaster, N.Y.) was third in her debut, posting a throw of 18.08 meters.
