The 2023 cross country season begins this weekend and the UConn Huskies are ready to get started on the right foot.
The Huskies return to Franklin Park this Friday for the Suffolk Short Classic in Boston, Massachussetts. The lineup consists of promising underclassmen, including freshman Malin Rham, sophomores Loghan Hughes, Ally McCarthy and Chloe Trudel paired with senior veteran Rachael Woodruff who is poised to make noise for the first meet of the new season.
Coming off a third place finish at the Big East championships last fall, the Huskies will need support to fill the void left by Randi Burr, the No. 1 runner at those championships, since graduating.
Senior Jenna Zydanowicz will be cheering on her fellow teammates and is excited for how they perform after the hard work that was put in during the pre-season practices.
“It’s only a 3k and a season opener so it’s a good way to get the season rolling,” said Zydanowicz. “We are all super excited to get the season going after a great pre-season and summer training from everyone.”
Friday’s race is a shorter contest to prepare for the 6k championship race later on in the season. After this weekend, the Huskies will be making stops in Providence, Rhode Island, for the Providence Friar Cross Country Invite on Sept. 8 as well, returning to Boston, Massachussetts, for the Battle in Beantown on Sept. 29.
The big travel day before championship season takes place in College Station, Texas, for the Arturo Barrios Invite. There, the Huskies will line up with an array of southern colleges and put their speed to the test before they go into the Big East championships in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Oct. 28.
The Huskies return six of seven runners from the conference championship in 2022. That group includes junior Chloe Thomas, the All-Conference returner that will be a sure-fire low stick when the meets matter the most. In 2022, she placed 15th overall clocking a time of 20:58.0 for the 6k race.
Zydanowicz was the No. 3 runner from last year’s race who has returned to post fast marks. Placing 20th overall running 21:21, the senior is primed for a big senior year after several impressive performances on the track the previous indoor and outdoor seasons.
For this weekend, the young Huskies will be looked upon to take a jump into an important scoring role later on in the season.
