UConn and Notre Dame exchange title again
By Christopher Hunt
all photos by www.wingedfootfotos.com
All his Connecticut teammates made it a point to walk up to Basil Campbell individually and shake is hand or give him a hug, pat is back or tell him how important he is to the team.
Campbell had enjoyed in last Big East conference indoor championship competition and he couldn’t have written the script any better himself. “I’m feeling great right now,” Campbell said. “This is how every senior is supposed to go out.”
Campbell led UConn to its fourth Big East title in seven years. The Huskies and Notre Dame have taken turns winning the conference meet each year since 2002. UConn won the meet with 167 points while Notre Dame finished second with 139. Both the men and women teams won conference titles for the first time since Georgetown won both meets in 2001.
When Campbell blasted through the final 50 meters of the 200, coming from nearly third to win in 21.23 second, his team erupted. Campbell languished in Lane 6 until Bruce Owens of Rutgers passed him on the final curve. But Campbell accelerated to the finish line while Owens and Georgetown’s Kenny Mitchell started to tie up.
“I knew I had to get out because those guys are 60-meter runners,” Campbell said. “They still got out on me but I wasn’t nervous. I know that I’m a strong finisher.”
The win gave UConn a 16-point lead with five events left and big points in the field events. The Huskies swept the top three places in the high jump. Ellis Gaulden won, clearing 7 feet, 1 inch. Marquis Thomas and Daniel Hutcherson finished second and third respectively, both clearing 6-11 1/2. Hutcherson also finished second in the triple jump with a leap of 49-8 1/2. Tyrone Faverey was fourth in the event (49-0 1/4) and Jamaal Smith was fifth (47-11 3/4). UConn also won the shot put with junior Andrew Dubs tossing 57-8 1/4. Teammate Dennis Faherty, a freshman from West Islip, Long Island, finished fifth throwing 53-9.
In the three field events contested Sunday, UConn outscored Notre Dame 50-18. But the Huskies also need to match the Irish on the track and that’s where the tide began to turn. Through eight events and Notre Dame leading, a pedestrian pace unfolded in the 800 meters. The crowd plodded through the first 400 in 57 seconds. Then the strategic contest turned into a mad dash.
Brian Gagnon took advance and won in 1:53.27. Then his teammate Michael Rutt outlasted Villanova’s Sean Tully on the straightaway for second in 1:53.64. UConn took the lead 83-74 over Notre Dame after the event and never trailed again.
“It was huge,” Gagnon said of the 1-2 finish after the race. “We went into today trialing Notre Dame by a lot. We’re right on their butts now.”
He said the slower pace worked to his strengths.
“I was liking that,” he said. “I know my kick is solid so I knew I had a shot. There was a lot going on behind me. I kept getting clipped on the heels. But it was great that Michael got in behind me.”
Connecticut coach Greg Roy said his group produced in every way he asked them to. His team’s ability to score across the board had challengers like Notre Dame and Georgetown running on tired legs.
“I really can’t say enough about this group,” Roy said. “I don’t think there’s a place where we let down.”
Villanova’s Bobby Curtis didn’t let down either in the 3,000. Curtis carried the field for most of the race before Andrew Bumbalough of Georgetown and Cory Thorne of Louisville took shots at the pace, but with 800 to go, Curtis was untouchable. He won in 8:02.91.
“The goal was just to win,” he said. “I wanted to make my more with 1K or 800 to go. Once I saw my opening I just went for it. It was really important for us to get the automatic time for nationals in the DMR so I’m really happy that we got that out of the way.”
Villanova won the distance medley relay Saturday in 9:32.89 to capture their automatic bid and crushing the meet 
record of 9:38.38 by the 1984 Villanova relay that included coach Marcus O’Sullivan on the anchor leg. Villanova also set a meet record Sunday in the 4x800 relay. Michael Kerrigan (1:53.5), Carl MacKenzie (1:50.1), Mark Korich (1:50.6) and Sean Tully (1:52.0) won the event in 7:26.24, besting a record set in 1987 by Pittsburgh of 7:26.94.
Seton Hall also claimed a meet record in the 4x400. Carl Smith (48.1), Dwight Crooks (48.7), Sterling Shelton and Greg Gomes (46.4) won in 3:11.64. Gomes chopped down Rutgers’ Steve Swern on the straightaway and outleaned him at the line.
Gomes also bested Swern in the 500 meters earlier, winning in a personal best 1:01.02, breaking his own meet record. It the third straight time the senior has one the Big East 500-meter title. He stood on the rail just beyond the finish with three fingers in the air saluting his own dominance in the event.
“Get out,” he said. “That’s all I was thinking. Steve is my friend. He’s always there with me and if it wasn’t for him, where would I be?” he said. “The pressure was there for me because I won this twice already. As you get older you are supposed to get better or at least you hope so. … Steve is strong. He’s stepped up so much this year. This was my year. Next year will be his year.”
Kurt Benninger of Notre Dame turned in one of the most exciting races of the afternoon winning the mile in 4:00.12. The senior’s time cracked a meet record of 4:00.57 set by legend Steve Holman of Georgetown in 1992. Bumbalough, who leads the country this season in the mile, finished second in 4:01.61. Pittburgh’s Sam Bair, one of the favorites, finished fourth in 4:06.53.
“To be in such a quality field and run fast was huge,” Benninger, who also finished seventh in the 3,000. “I knew the pace was going to be pretty quick. The most important thing was to say up and out of trouble. This was definitely great.”
Reach Christopher Hunt at chunt@armorytrack.com.
all photos by www.wingedfootfotos.com