MECHANICSVILLE, Va. – The UConn men's cross country team finished second and had four runners in the top-15 at the Spider-Patriot Cross Country Classic Saturday afternoon from Pole Green Park.

UConn finished with a total of 57 points to come in behind winner Iona with 24 points in the 10-team field. 

"This was a great run for the guys" stated Director of Cross Country and Track & Field Greg Roy. "We saw the top-two teams in our region and we beat UMass Lowell who's second.  Even though top-ranked Iona beat us convincingly, we missed a spot in the middle of the race where we could have made a move but our last mile was really, really good."

The combo of senior Eric Van Der Els (Norwalk, Conn.) and junior James Maniscalco (Fairfield, Conn.) took third and fourth overall in the field.  Van Der Els clocked in a 24:30.6 with Maniscalco right behind at 24:34.8. 

Junior Will Brisman (Fairfield, Conn.) and sophomore Kevin Cawley (St. James, N.Y.) were next up in the UConn finishers, crossing the line in 14th and 15th, respectively.  Brisman clocked a 24:56.7 while Cawley came home in 24:57.9.  Rounding out UConn's top-five finishers was senior Sean Parker (Bridgewater, Conn.) in 23rd at 25:12.

"I was interested to see how would react after the FSU race and we really responded," said Roy.  "The whole team really, really competed." 

"Coach Lindsay Crevoiserat is the MVP of the day for getting us into this race.  We are really, really pleased with how we performed.  We saw a lot out of our athletes today."

The Huskies will now head to the BIG EAST Championship scheduled for March 5 in Gary, North Carolina.