Day 1 Results
CHICAGO – After the first day of the 2025 BIG EAST Indoor Track and Field Championships presented by JEEP, Connecticut leads on both the men’s and women’s sides with 70 and 115 points, respectively.
For the men, Villanova is in second with 40 points, while Butler is in third with 30 points. On the women’s side, St. John’s ranks second with 27 points and Villanova is in third with 21 points. Finals for Friday included the pole vault, long jump, weight throw, 5,000-meter run, distance medley relay and the women’s pentathlon.
The defending champion UConn dominated the women’s pole vault, taking the top four spots. Mallory Malz captured gold for the second consecutive year with a height of 3.80m. Piper Linn took second place with a height of 3.80m, and Rachel Mason came in third for the second consecutive season with a height of 3.70m.
In the men’s long jump the Huskies took gold and silver while Villanova captured the bronze. Marc Morrison earned gold for the third consecutive season with a finishing mark of 7.69m. Kasey Savage took second place with a distance of 7.50m. Justin Miller earned the Wildcats a bronze medal with a 7.26m performance.
The women’s weight throw had top finishers from Villanova, UConn and St. John’s. Alexandra Payne finished in first for the Wildcats with a distance of 19.18m. Coming in second place for the Huskies was Natalia Surdej who earned her second consecutive silver medal with a finishing mark of 18.92m. Juliet Smith of St. John’s took the bronze medal after a 16.95m performance.
The women’s pentathlon saw UConn come away victorious once again, as Maresa Hense swept all five events en route to 4,062 points and a first-place finish. Coming in second was Audrey Kozak of Connecticut with 3,420 points and her teammate Mackenzie Braunstein took third place with 3,409 points.
On the track, UConn’s Jenna Zydanowicz dominated the women’s 5,000m in 16:19.00 for a gold medal finish. Fellow Husky Faith Kiplimo earned a silver medal at 16:36.43. Georgetown’s Fiona Max rounded out the podium with a 16:38.49 finish.
On the men’s side in the 5,000m, Villanova’s Marco Langon captured the gold medal in 13:57.03. Defending indoor champion Butler’s Matthew Forrester came in second with a time of 14:01.62, and Georgetown’s Birhanu Harriman finished third after running in 14:03.33.
Back in the field events, Butler’s Luke Walden took first place in the men’s pole vault at 4.95m. Ty Noble of Connecticut came in second (4.85m) and teammate Patrick Oatman came in third (4.45m).
Alex Bernstein of DePaul earned his second consecutive gold medal in the men’s weight throw with a final mark of 20.57m. He was followed by Travis Roux of UConn with a 20.50m performance and Tristan Bolinsky of Villanova with a 17.33m performance.
UConn’s A'liyah Thomas finished first in the women’s long jump with a mark of 6.12m. She was followed by DePaul’s Jaiah Hopf (6.08m) and Cassandra Lemus-Sodji from St. John’s (6.00m).
Providence earned the gold in the women’s DMR for the second consecutive season with a time of 10:54.78. The team’s time broke the BIG EAST Indoor Championship record from 2014 when Georgetown’s team finished in 10:55.63. Villanova raced to a second-place finish at 11:24.25. UConn was right behind in third with a time of 11:24.89.
Finally, the Villanova Wildcats, who coming into the event had won nine of the last 11 BIG EAST Indoor men’s DMR titles, once again took home the gold medal with a finishing time of 9:42.54. Georgetown earned the silver medal with a mark of 9:43.87 while Providence finished third with a time of 9:47.18.
Championship action begins at 11 a.m. CT on Saturday with the women’s shot put, 3,000m unseeded race, women’s triple jump and men’s high jump. The full event schedule and results can be found on the
BIG EAST Track and Field Championship Central page.
Women’s Results (6 Events Scored)
- UConn – 115 pts.
- St. John’s – 27
- Villanova – 21
- DePaul – 17
- Marquette – 17
- Butler – 15
- Providence – 10
- Georgetown – 8
- Xavier – 3
Men’s Results (5 Events Scored)
- UConn – 70 pts.
- Villanova – 40
- Butler – 30
- DePaul – 18
- Georgetown – 16
- Marquette – 9
- Providence – 7
- Creighton – 3
- Xavier – 1