April Garner (far right) has been breaking records all year.

Garner, Mullin lead the way

By: Matt Weiner

Posted: 4/20/05

This past weekend, the UConn women's outdoor track and field team split up. While a majority of the team traveled to the Brown Invitational, captains April Garner and Deirdre Mullen went to California.

Mullen and Garner didn't travel across the country to just sunbathe though, they were there to compete on a national level. The captains did not disappoint, Mullen cleared 6-feet-2 inches in the high jump, good enough to have her name placed in the UConn record books yet again and be considered second in the nation.

Mullen matched her career best at the Mt SAC Relays in Walnut, Calif. to tie for second at the meet. However, she wasn't the only Husky at the meet and Garner did her best to get into the record books again, as well.
Garner took third in the 100-meter hurdles, which gave her the fourth-place in the UConn record books behind only her other three best times in the event.

Garner also took 26th place in the 200-meter dash at the relays.

The rest of the women went to the Brown Invitational in Providence where the women were bested for the second straight weekend by Brown University. The team competed without the two captains, which took away from it's success.

However, there was no lack of talent at the meet. Daisy VanRavenswaay took three first place finishes at the invitational winning javelin, shot put and discus. En route to the victory, she even picked up the second best discus mark in the in school history.

Edwina Clark also took first place in the long jump. Following Clark in the long jump was teammate Jen Rogers who took third, who also took second in the 400-meter dash and fourth in the triple jump.

Tamara Highsmith also had a big day at the meet, taking third in the 100-meter hurdles second in the triple jump and fourth in the high jump.

The weight events were crucial to the team's success at the meet, as VanRavenswaay was dominant, but also Cassie Buckwalter had a big day. Buckwalter took second in the discus and third in the shot put.

The team also took first in the 4x400-meter relay, even without Garner - who usually runs the third leg of the relay.

The team also had some strong finishes in the long distance events.

Niamh Cunningham took second in the 5,000-meter run, while teammates Allison Croft and Orlaith Cunningham took fourth and fifth respectively in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.

The team finished the meet in second place overall, beating eight other teams.

The men's team also split up its athletes this past weekend. The team sent some of its athletes to the Sea Ray Invitational in Knoxville, Tenn.

The best performance at the invitational was by Will Thomas, who cleared 6-feet-8 inches in the high jump.

Edwin Campbell also finished 12th at the meet in the 400-meter dash.

The rest of the team went to the Brown Invitational, where they took ninth of the 11 teams represented, with the core of their team in Tennessee.

In Providence, the men had a strong showing in the mile run. Max Feldman finished fourth, while Pat Blake took sixth.

The team also showed strength in the javelin as Earlando Torres and Glen Berry took sixth and eighth in the javelin, respectively. The 4x400-meter relay team also took sixth.

Both the men's and women's teams will be back at home again this weekend for the second home meet of the season. The meet will take place at the George Sherman Field, behind the gym. The field events will start at 10 a.m. Saturday and the track events at 11 a.m.