University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
NCAA Northeast Regional
Huskies Headed to NCAA Northeast Regional
11/14/2019 3:09:00 PM | Men's Cross Country
STORRS, Conn. – The UConn men's cross-country team will head up to Buffalo this Friday to run in the 2019 NCAA Northeast Regional meet. For the third-straight season, the NCAA regional race will be hosted by the University at Buffalo and held at the Audubon Golf Course.
The Huskies will run with 42 other teams on the 10k course in a race that features 359 runners entered. The Husky lineup will feature r-junior Eric Van Der Els (Norwalk, Conn.), r-sophomores Will Brisman (Fairfield, Conn.) and James Maniscalco (Fairfield, Conn.) and freshmen Kabir Chavan (Fairfield, Conn.), Jeremy Bronstein (Tolland, Conn.), Jacob Russo (Hudson, Ohio) and Angel Vicioso (Norwalk, Conn.)
With such a large field of teams and runners, getting off to a strong start to the race is key to a solid finish. "When you start making a race plan for something like this, it is kind of like you are damned if you do, damned If you don't," stated director of cross country and track & field Greg Roy. "You don't want to get out too quick but if you want to accomplish something at this event, you have to get a great start. Trust your conditioning, get out and go."
UConn's Van Der Els and Brisman are the only two Huskies in this year's race who also competed last year. Van Der Els had a 68th place finish last year, clocking in at 34:32.8. Brisman, running as a freshman, took 137th and ran a time of 35:38.2. The duo were both All-AAC finishers at the conference championship.
"You have to know how to get in the mix and stay there," said Roy. "That's the challenge, find that sweet spot, find a way to get where you need to be. With a field like this, it is kind of a war of attrition and you have to be awake at all times to what is going on. It's a really engaging competition, especially of the mind. When guys make moves, how do you adjust, how do you strategize. It's a great race watch."
The Huskies will head to Buffalo off a second place finish at the 2019 American Athletic Conference Championship two weeks ago. Heading into Friday's race, the Huskies have climbed to ninth in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Northeast top-15 ranking.
"In the first regional rankings this year, we weren't in the top-15," commented Roy. "But after each race, we kept moving up. Do we have another bump in us? Can we get to the top-five?"
Last season, the Huskies finished 14th as a team at the Northeast Regional. Senior Patrick Begley was the Huskies top-finisher at 21st, good for an All-Northeast honor.
"Our guys have worked hard and everyone is healthy and training really well," stated Roy. "I have no reason to expect we won't be our best. We have to be confident enough to get off the line and execute the race plan. We have to keep our composure, stay focused and keep working throughout the race."
Players Mentioned
