After a podium placement at the Big East Championship, the UConn women’s cross country team ended their season with a seventh-place finish at the NCAA Northeast Regional Championship amongst a 37-team field.
Leading the pack for Connecticut was sophomore Chloe Thomas, finishing the 6K course in 21:11.4, good for 29th overall. The Ontario native continued to be a force for the Huskies, as she has all season.
Not far behind Thomas was junior Sophie Coughlin, placing 37th after a 21:24.0 finish, dazzling amongst a 252-runner field. Finishing within five seconds of each other were juniors Jenna Zydanowicz and Caroline Towle, clocking in at 21:43.3 and 21:49.8, respectively. Zydnaowicz placed 60th and Towle finished 62nd overall.
Rounding out the top five runners for the Huskies was graduate student Randi Burr, finishing 69th with a time of 21:54.76. Also placing well were senior Caroline Webb, running in 22:00.8 for 75th place, and freshman Maddie Reylea, running in 22:33.1 for 108th place. Each of the UConn runners, regardless of who contributed to the team score, managed to crack the top half of participants.
Connecticut finished in seventh overall, ahead of programs like UMass Lowell, Yale, Army and Boston College. Some teams that placed ahead of the Huskies include Harvard, Northeastern and Dartmouth.
Topping all programs at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx was fellow Big East rival Providence, led by freshman Jane Buckley. She placed third overall, running the 6K course in 20:27.4. Three more top-17 finishes for the Friars all but solidified a victory for Providence, as they look to do more damage at the NCAA Championship next weekend.
Coming into Friday’s competition ranked fourth overall in the USTFCCCA Northeast Regional Rankings, the Huskies underwhelmed in this showing, but have little reason to hang their heads. The team had four top-five finishes this year, including at the Big East Championship. While UConn didn’t qualify for the NCAA Championship and is losing All-Big East runner Burr and perhaps the senior Webb, the Huskies have a lot of talented underclassmen, most notably Thomas. The team looks to come back better than ever next fall.
