University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
Minuteman Invitational
Eric van der Els Wins Minuteman Invite; Huskies Finish 2nd
9/8/2018 1:13:00 PM | Men's Cross Country
UConn has four runners in the top-10
AMHERST, Mass. – The UConn men's cross country team opened their season on Saturday afternoon, finishing second at the UMass Minuteman Invitational. Husky r-sophomore Eric van der Els (Norwalk, Conn.) came away the race winner on Saturday, besting the field of 34 runner for his first collegiate victory.
"Evaluating against our goals for today, rather than doing what needed to do, I think we learned what we have to do" commented head coach Greg Roy.  "Eric did a nice job and ran a good race. I thought (Will) Brisman and (Sean) Parker ran pretty good, both had a good opportunity with about 1000 meters left to pick a few guys off but just couldn't get there. And I thought our freshmen did a really nice job."
UConn's van der Els led a Husky contingent that had four runners finish in the top-10. UConn's top-seven runners all came in inside the top-20 in the 6k race at the UMass cross country course. Van der Els crossed the line first with a time of 19:25.22 seconds, seven seconds ahead of the next finisher.
Sophomore Sean Parker (Bridgewater, Conn.) took fourth place overall with a time of 19:38.14 while classmate Will Brisman (Fairfield, Conn.) was sixth in 19:41.85. Freshman James Maniscalo nabbed a top-10 finish in his first collegiate race, coming in ninth at 19:49.15.
Freshmen Jon Connor and Joseph Pearl finished back to back in 14th and 15th, respectively, clocking in at 20:07.38 and 20:11.81. Junior James Mas (Trumbull, Conn.) rounded out he UConn top-seven in 18th in a time of 20:23.89
"Overall today, I thought it was good for them (freshmen) to get the experience and it will be good for us in general down the road," said Roy. "It's not what we did today so much as how we use it going forward."
Players Mentioned
