NEW HAVEN, Conn. - On Saturday, the University of Hartford men's indoor track & field team kicked off the 2025-26 campaign competing at the Yale Season Opener in New Haven. Today was highlighted by record-setting performances as several Hawks rewrote the program record book.

Rapid Recap:

• Graduate student Kaden Leonard (Webster, N.Y.) headlined for Hartford breaking records on this Saturday season opener. He took fourth place in the 60 meter dash with a time of 6.92 seconds. Leonard out beat his own all-time record at Hartford which was previously at 6.94 seconds and continues to hold the number one all-time spot in the 60 meter dash. Along with his fourth place finish Leonard took eighth in the 200m sprint event crossing the finish line at 22.70 seconds.
• Sophomore Owen Klein (Coventry, R.I.) earned second place in the men's mile event crossing the finish line with an impressive time of 4:29.78. Along with this feat, Klein also took third in the 3000m event at 9:11.95. In that same event senior Gulian Marconi (Southampton, Mass.) placed seventh with a time of 4:35.92. Along with teammate sophomore Daren Johnson (Meriden, Conn.) on his tail coming into eighth place at 4:36.06.
• Sophomore Marlon Pierre (Baldwin, N.Y.) finished in second place in the 60m hurdles event with a time of 8.58 seconds. With this race Pierre now holds the second fastest time in Hartford history. Just behind Pierre was freshman Burrell Laneau (Valley Stream, N.Y.) making his first collegiate debut earning fourth place with a time of 8.79 seconds 
• Junior Thomas Yonkers (Farmington, Conn.) claimed second place in the pole vault event clearing a height of 4.10 meters.
• Sophomore Aidan Lybarger (South Burlington, Vt.) took third place in the men's shot put with a distance of 14.76m on his second throw, earning also the second furthest distance of all time for the history books at Hartford. Lybarger also took 10th in the men's weight throw, tossing a distance of 14.91 meters.
• Freshman Julius Lowe-Wannamaker (Springfield, Mass.) launched his collegiate debut earning second place in the long jump event clearing a distance of 6.82m. He also finished in 6th place in the high jump event clearing a height of 1.90 meters. 
• Sophomore Ethan Fiorenza (Dover, N.H.) took third place in the 5000m event crossing the line at 15:51.81.
• Hartford ended the day with a strong showing in the 4x400 event, it was senior Spencer Beane (North Reading, Mass.), Yonkers, freshman Mikael Isaacs (Danbury, Conn.), and sophomore Aidan Quee (Springfield, Mass.) to earn fourth place with a team time of 3:31.32.

Post Game Press:
"During my time off, I focused on cleaning up my form and building strength so I could come back more efficiently and ready to make a run at nationals," said graduate student Kaden Leonard (Webster, N.Y.). "Even though I wasn't competing, I was hungry the whole time, ready to chase PRs. My teammates fed off that energy adn ambition during block starts, workouts, the weight room, and time trials. Iron sharpening iron."

"We had an incredible season opener," said head coach Connor Green. "Now while school records and and top 10 marks are a goal and excellent when they happen, what we really loved with seeing all of our new athletes was to  get a chance to showcase all of the hard work they've been putting in. As well as all of our returners really stepping up and putting themselves in a great position for the rest of the season. Across the board it was a stellar day and we are thrilled with how our athletes performed. We can't wait to see what's next."

Up Next: 
The Hawks will compete next Saturday, December 13th at the SCSU Art Kadish Invitational.

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