STORRS, Conn. – The UConn men's and women's cross-country teams will get another chance to race this weekend when they head down to Virginia for the Spider-Patriot Cross Country Classic co-hosted by George Mason and Richmond.

The Huskies will head down to Pole Green Park in Mechanicsville, Virginia on Saturday afternoon for the meet with the women's race will step off at 12 noon followed by the men at 1 pm.

Both UConn teams got the chance to start their seasons two weeks ago running in the FSU Winter Classic and they will be able to use Saturday's race as another tune-up before the Big East title race on March 5.

"Our guys felt strongly that they wanted to get another race in and this opportunity came up, so we are excited to get the chance to compete," stated Director of Cross Country and Track & Field Greg Roy.

For the UConn men, slotted eighth in this week's USTFCCCA Northeast Regional poll, the Huskies had a strong showing at FSU and now have a chance to build on that effort.  "The FSU race we were maybe over confident or over eager but I thought we showed some real toughness in that meet," stated Roy.  "This weekend, we are going down there and we have to have the same approach, the same mentality, we just need to be a little more intelligent in the execution."

The Huskies jumped out to a fast start in a loaded field of 20 teams, many nationally ranked, but came in 12^th overall.  Senior Eric Van Der Els (Norwalk, Conn.) was the top-Husky finisher coming home 48^th overall.

"This will be a great challenge for us with Iona, top ranked team in our region, and UMass Lowell, who is number two, in the field," said Roy.  "I told our guys, if we want to go the NCAA here is our chance, let's go out and prove it.  We are going to find out how good we are."

UConn's women's team, ranked fifth in the latest USTFCCCA Northeast Region poll, will get a lift by the season debut of senior Mia Nahom (New Milford, Conn.), an NCAA Championship participant last season.  Nahom joins classmates Randi Burr (Westery, R.I.) and Danielle Jordan (Clifton Park, N.Y.) who led the Huskies to a solid finish in a stacked field at the FSU race.  Burr was the top-UConn finisher in the race with a 42nd place showing as the Huskies finished 14^th as a team.

"I'm excited for this weekend," commented Head Cross Country and Assistant Track & Field Coach Lindsay Crevoiserat. "We're ready to build off the momentum from Florida. I was really proud of my team and how they raced in Florida, especially after not racing for a year and then opening up in a national field. However, we were missing a huge piece of the puzzle. As a team, we're excited to have Mia back alongside Danielle and Randi. It's her first race in a year- so I'm expecting for her to bust some rust, compete and run with her team."

"We're going against Iona who is a top team in our region, and Georgetown who is currently ranked 18th nationally," stated Crevoiserat.  "This race will be a good test for us now that we have our whole team on the line, and it will get us ready for Big East in two weeks."