The UConn Huskies completed the first day of competition at the 2026 BIG EAST Outdoor Track and Field Championships presented by Jeep on May 14 at the George J. Sherman Family Sports Complex in Storrs.
The event marks a significant opportunity for both men’s and women’s teams to compete in front of their home crowd, with athletes participating in track, field, heptathlon, and decathlon events. The championships are scheduled to continue Friday with multi-event competitions starting at noon, followed by track events at 2 p.m. and field events at 3 p.m.
On the women’s side, senior Chloe Trudel earned third place in the only race of the day with a time of 34:01.88. Additional points were scored by senior Loghan Hughes (sixth), senior Megan Minicucci (seventh, personal best), and senior Jacqueline Izzo (eighth). In field events, junior Gabriela DeFelice secured silver in the hammer throw with a mark of 52.25 meters.
For the men’s team, freshman Marshall Potter claimed his first outdoor championship medal with a silver in hammer throw (62.06 meters), while senior Alex Krause took bronze (59.66 meters) and freshman Lucas DeCrescenzo finished fourth (56.63 meters). In decathlon action after five events, graduate student Diarmuid O’Connor leads with four event wins—100m dash (11.14 seconds), long jump (7.00 meters), shot put (14.66 meters), and 400m dash (48.85 seconds)—and sits atop the standings with 3,934 points; junior Dar Jankovic is second overall after winning the high jump.
In heptathlon competition after four events, freshman Ruby Tillson leads with two individual wins—the 100m hurdles and high jump—and holds first place overall with Audrey Kozak close behind after winning the 200m sprint.
As competition continues into its next phase on Friday, athletes from UConn look to build on strong opening performances across multiple disciplines.
