University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
American Athletic Conference Championship
Huskies Set for Sixth AAC XC Championship Event
10/24/2018 11:31:00 AM | Men's Cross Country
WATCH | LIVE RESULTS | CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL
STORRS, Conn. – The UConn men's cross-country team is a full strength as they head down to New Orleans, La. to run in the sixth American Athletic Conference Championship race on Thursday, October 25.Â
The championship race will be held in New Orleans for the first time, as 240 athletes from the league's 12 schools will compete at the Golf Club at Audubon Park. Due to weather concerns, the men's 8k race has been moved up to a 8:50 am CT/9:50 am ET start time. The championships can be viewed live on Facebook via the American Digital Network. Click here to follow the live results. Dennis McNulty and Paul Boron will anchor the ADN coverage.
As the Huskies touched down in New Orleans on Tuesday, head coach Greg Roy noted, "This is the strongest we have been this year that's for sure. We have nothing to talk about other than let's do it."
The Huskies, who are ranked 11th in this week's USTFCCCA Northeast Regional poll, finished second at last year's title race behind four-time champion Tulsa. UConn has been a top-four finisher in each of the conference's five championships.
UConn got two of their top runners back in their last race as senior captain Patrick Begley (Suffield, Conn.) and r-senior Michael McGonnigle (New Fairfield, Conn.) returned to the lineup and ran well for the Huskies. "Begley and McGonnigle ran really well at Princeton and everyone in our lineup is ready to go," stated Roy.
Begley, one of seven All-AAC runners from a year ago set to race on Thursday, finished eighth in a field of 218 runners at the Princeton race, clocking in on the 8k course at 24:20.8. At last season's championship, Begley was the Huskies' top-runner taking sixth place overall with a time of 25:26.8.Â
Classmate Kyle Brackman (Berkeley Heights, N.J.) was also an All-AAC finisher last fall, taking 15th overall with a time of 26:06.9. He had a nice showing at the Princeton race two weeks ago, finishing the 8k race in 24:35.9, good for 16th.
R-Sophomore Eric van der Els (Norwalk, Conn.) has the sole 2018 first-place individual finish for UConn this season, winning the Minuteman Invitational to start the fall. He placed 21st in the 2017 American championship as a freshman.
McGonnigle, who missed last year's race, was an All-AAC runner as a freshman when he finished 13th at the 2014 race. He posted a time of 24:58.4 at Princeton in his season debut. Seniors Kyle Barber (Fayetteville, N.Y.) and PJ Garmon (Billerica, Mass.) will run in their final AAC title races on Thursday. Garmon took 19th at last fall's race while junior James Mas (Trumbull, Conn.) just missed All-AAC honors last season with a 16th place finish.
"We are excited and I think this will be the best AAC ever," commented Roy. "I think it's hard to say who will be the favorite in this year's field. Tulsa will be formidable, having never lost an AAC Championship race. There is one great runner in league, in defending champion Emmanuel Rotich from Tulane. After that, the field is really good. I think it probably comes down to who's top-three can beat whose top three for the team title."
Players Mentioned
