University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
Minuteman Invitational
Eric Van Der Els Wins Again at Minuteman Invitational
9/7/2019 2:41:00 PM | Men's Cross Country
AMHERST, Mass. – UConn r-junior Eric Van Der Els (Norwalk, Conn.) took home the top spot on Saturday at the UMass Minuteman Invitational for the second-straight season, besting the 45-runner field while leading the Huskies to a second place finish in the four-team race.
UConn just missed out on the top-spot, placing four runners in the top-10 on the way to a 35-point day on the 6K course. The Huskies were just clipped by the host Minutemen who had 33 points. WPI finished third overall (64 pts) and Sacred Heart was fourth (115 pts).
Van Der Els won the race with a time of 19:22, besting his winning time from last season of 19:25.22. He was two seconds better than the next finisher. Junior Will Brisman (Fairfield, Conn.) led for much of the race before finished fourth overall in a time of 19:31.
"Last year we ran the younger kids because we held out our older guys but this year we ran our younger guys because this is what we got." stated director of track & field/cross country Greg Roy. "I thought today we were ok, we certainly could have won it in a few places."
"Really pleased with Eric (Van Der Els)," said Roy. "He isn't in his top-shape yet and he still ran really strong. Will (Brisman) had it won with about 600 meters to go but he just couldn't hang on to it."
Sophomore James Maniscalco (Fairfield, Conn.) was next up for the Huskies finishing ninth overall with a time of 19:48. Right on his heels was junior Josh Bedard (Tolland, Conn.) in 10th at 19:50 and freshman Kevin Cawley (St. James, N.Y.) in 11th, running in 19:54 in his first collegiate race.
Three more Husky newcomers finished in the top-20 as well. Freshman Angel Vicioso (Norwalk, Conn.) was 13th overall in a time of 19:58 followed by classmate Kabir Chaven (Fairfield, Conn.) in 14th in and 19:59 and fellow rookie Jacob Russo (Hudson, Ohio) in 17th at 20:05.
"Our young guys ran really well, and competed really well," said the head coach. "Overall, we just couldn't find the right combination to pull it out. I am not unhappy with this race, certainly would have like to win it but we had a solid day."
"I am very positive about this team and with the progress we are making. Now we start to transition up to 8K and we just need to keep trying to get better every day."
The Huskies will have nearly a month off before their next race on Saturday, October 5th when they travel to Lehigh University for the annual Paul Short Run.
Players Mentioned
