WEST HARTFORD, Conn. - The University of Hartford Men's Track and Field Team is eager to lace back up for the 2024-25 Indoor Season, after a successful first year in Division III competition.
 
THE HAWKS RETURNERS
Hartford will return 14 sophomores, Keller Casey (Ballston Lake, N.Y.) Bryce Foster (Manchester, N.H.) Stephen Haney (Foxborough, Mass.) Christopher Hergott (Hamden, Conn.) Angelo Hughes (Wethersfield, Conn.) Lionell Jean (Lawrence Township, N.J.) John Kelly (Mahopac, N.Y.) Trae McIntyre (Troy, N.Y.) William Pavlinsky (New Milford, Conn.) Jackson Sigda (Media, Pa.) Nicholas Simoneta (East Moriches, N.Y.) Jordan Spector (Framingham, Mass.) Benjamin Vroeginday (Southington, Conn.) and Thomas Yonkers (Farmington, Conn.)
 
"So, what I expect is for our team to perform very well", said returning sophomore Ben Vroeginday (Southington, Conn.). "A lot of us are in the shape of our lives right now. And we're crushing these workouts and we're ready to go."
 
"I'm excited to perform at these tracks. I didn't really get to perform much on the indoor 200 oval that's banked that much so it's nice to finally be able to do that, a lot. I'm also excited to see what my team does because we're looking sharp right now."
 
The Hawks are excited to welcome back six of their talented junior class to the 2024-25 roster, our juniors include Tyrell Bailey (Willingboro, N.J.) Spencer Beane (North Reading, Mass.) Steven Confesor-Chable (Danbury, Conn.) Peter Efinger (Washingtonville, N.Y.) Gulian Marconi (Southampton, Mass.) Mats Nevin (South Burlington, Vt.)
 
The Hawks return a major senior class of 10, this Includes Riley Brutvan (Gardiner, N.Y.) Conor Convery (Port Jervis, N.Y.) Sean Crehan (Reading, Mass.) Brandon Edmund (Brooklyn, N.Y.) Jovan Joseph (Wrentham, Mass.) Kaden Leonard (Webster, N.Y.) Joseph Lothamer (Newburgh, Ind.) Parker Main (South Burlington, Vt.) Joseph Stephenson (Crown Point, Ind.) and Noah Thomas (Salem, Mass.).
 
Senior Joseph Stephenson (Crown Point, Ind.) said "For team expectations. We're all just really looking to make it to New England this year we're kind of just here to help our incoming freshman and our returners that aren't the seniors to really amp them up so they can make it to nationals next year when we can qualify."
 
"The new facility is amazing when I came here freshman year we had just a little rinky-dinky circle off in a corner but now we have three full circles for shotput then we have a full section dedicated for hammer and disc and it's really beautiful to just look out there and also be able to actually compete on a circle that it was made for. It is really enjoyable to actually have our own facility to compete in again"
 
"Coach Green and Coach Hill, They helped me through a lot mentally and sports wise. So, there was a time when I was struggling with competing, and Green would help me by giving me books about athlete mental health. Dante would always pull me aside and encourage me and asked me how I was doing if I was ever going through something he always would be there for me so they've helped me so much grow as a person to where I wouldn't be where I'm at right now without them and as an athlete they provided me with all the criticism and encouragement that I could ever need so they've also helped me get to where I'm at as an athlete too."
 
"We're super excited to go into indoor season", said senior Riley Brutvan Gardiner, N.Y.). "A lot of the guys on the cross-country team are mid distance athletes who will really get to do what they do best going indoors, so we're excited to see them perform well. We're excited to continue being consistent with our training. Something that we did well in cross country was not overdoing it when it got risky like if people were sick or on the verge of injury so looking forward to continuing that consistency and getting some good quality training in the winter."
 
NEW HAWKS READY FOR FLIGHT
Coach Green has the pleasure of welcoming 16 incoming freshmen to the team ahead of the 2024 indoor season.
 
Freshman Include: Tom Barriger (Wallingford, Conn.), Nick Brisson (Williamsburg, Mass.) Brandon Cruz, Aidan Cullinan (Bethel, Conn.), Ethan Fiorenza (Dover, N.H.), Nick Gati (Goshen, N.Y.), Daren Johnson (Meriden, Conn.), Tarrell Jones (Cromwell, Conn.), Owen Klein (Coventry, R.I.), Jayden Lawrence, Trey Lewellen (Oakdale, Conn.), Aidan Lybarger (South Burlington, Vt.), Marlon Pierre (Baldwin, N.Y.), Aidan Quee (Springfield, Mass.), Christopher Regalbuti (Southington, Conn.), Sekani Spence (Lakeview, N.Y.)
 
Coach Connor Green, entering his second season as head coach, shared his thoughts on the upcoming indoor season:
 
"So our indoor season this year, we are looking at some different venues than where we've been in the past one of the big goals that I had for the season was to try to get off as many flat tracks as possible ,with indoor track It's kind of hard because there's only so many facilities, but we're going to be hitting up the armory, ocean breeze, new balance quite a bit during the season and just by going to these high-level facilities were also basically going to be surrounding ourselves with high-level competition and I think that based on what our fall training has looked like our team is geared up and looking for some pretty high-level success as we go through the season ."
 
"We want to just kind of see what these first two meet bring us and then that's where we kind of set our expectations for the rest of the year, but we have a lot of new athletes, but we also have just many returning if not more and a lot of those returners are looking incredible right now so I would say that when we think about what our expectations could be, you know I'd like to definitely place pretty high at the New England championship meet both Division III New England's as well as the all-New England Championship meet, but I think as long as we're just continuously progressing and getting ready for outdoor track that ultimate will be the best goal."
 
"I think the ability for us, obviously, to have a full coaching staff has been huge for this year. You know we have obviously our throwing  coach in Dante Hill and then our distance coach Everett Hacket, but one thing we've been actually able to really do with the help of our athletic department is bringing on some volunteer coaches and a couple of managers who have just been actually critical and alleviating some of the additional stress that each event group kind of feels due to our larger sized roster. They've been awesome and you know we're really thankful to the effort that they've all been putting in and I think that's going to really help kind of elevate our program to the next level."
 
WHAT TO KNOW
The Hawks will kick off their first meet of the season on December 7th in New Haven Conn. In the Yale Season Opener. The Division III New England Championships will take place on Feb 28 (Fri) - Mar 1 (Sat) in Boston, Mass. Following that the NEICAAA All-New England Championships will take place on Mar 7 (Fri) -Mar 8 (Sat) in Boston, Mass.
 
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