The UConn women’s cross country team will travel 96 miles north to compete at the Bruce Kirsh Cross Country Cup at Franklin Pierce University on Friday, Oct. 11.
The six-day turnaround is the Huskies’ shortest of the season, with all remaining meets being spaced out by at least eight days each.
Franklin Pierce’s Hopkinton Fairgrounds is a prestigious course known for its mostly grass path. The course also plays host to many important postseason meets, including the D1 Regional Championship (which the Huskies will be competing at on Nov. 15).
The Huskies will be running in the Crimson Women 6k race, which will start at 1 p.m. on Friday. The list of competitors has not been published publicly.
Senior Chloe Thomas will look to continue her tear through the northeast cross country circuit by eying the course’s 20:48 6k record set by WPI’s Grace Hadley last year. Thomas has set the course record at every meet she has ran at this year en route to being named the National Female Athlete of the Week by the U.S Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association this past Monday.
Jenna Zydanowicz and Caroline Towle will look to improve on top-10 finishes from the Paul Short Invitational that helped the Huskies claim second overall and finish with the fastest average time of all 43 teams.
A name carrying lots of momentum this season is sophomore Loghan Hughes, who will look to build off a 21:25.5 performance last Saturday. Hughes was the highest placing Husky at the team’s first meet of the season at Marist. Other Huskies to keep an eye on are Chloe Trudel, Malin Rahm, Rachel Woodruff and Claire Paci – the lone Husky freshman.
The team has benefited greatly from a youthful infusion of underclassmen pairing well with stable veteran presences like Thomas, Zydanowicz and Towle to help UConn get off to one of its best starts in recent program history.