Maybe it was the new uniforms. Perhaps it was the irrepressible joy of meet day after oh-so-long of an off season. It also may have been the want to get out of West Hartford before the torrential downpours began — which will last most of the week, by the way.
Whatever “it” was, it certainly catalyzed the UConn women’s cross country team in its season-opening demolition of the field at the University of Hartford Invitational on Saturday.
UConn finished first by a combined two minutes (54:12, exactly two minutes ahead of Southern Connecticut State’s 56:12 mark) and boasted a combined score of 16. The six Huskies who ran finished first, second, third, fourth, sixth and ninth and sported an average time of 10:50 each in the women’s three-kilometer run.
Anique Poulin and Samantha Moore — UConn’s burgeoning sophomore duo — finished within three milliseconds of each other for first place, with Poulin, who set a new course and personal record, winning at 10:39.20.
Moore also set a personal best at 10:39.50, finishing nearly 12 seconds ahead of third place and half a stride short of first.
Venerable Calista Mayer, a four-year veteran who finished 10th in the 800-meter at the Big East Outdoor Track and Field Championships in May, finished third with a time of 10:50.40. Just behind her was freshman Alexandra Morgan, who finished inside the top five in her first collegiate race with a time of 10:53.60.
The lone gap between the first five Huskies and the first five finishers was Southern Connecticut State’s Erin Sola, a junior who almost picked off Morgan at the finish line but fell to fifth at 10:55.
A second Husky freshman, Katie McMorrow, finished 14 seconds behind Sola in sixth at 11:09.50 after staving off Southern Connecticut’s Mckenzie David, who finished in seventh two seconds later.
The last Connecticut runner, freshman Alyssa Suriano, finished ninth at 11:20.60, capping off a brilliant afternoon for UConn that saw all runners finish inside the top 10.
Other teams competing included — in order of finish — Southern Connecticut State, New Haven, Hartford, Molloy College, Roger Williams University, Clark College (Mass.), Manhatanville University, Bridgeport University and St. Elizabeth University.
The season-opening win gives Connecticut momentum before it heads up to Hanover, N.H. on Friday for the Dartmouth Invitational. Most of the team is expected to make the trip up, including the six who ran this weekend in Hartford.