STORRS, Conn.- After an excellent individual and team showing on November 1^st at the BIG EAST Championships, UConn cross country will take their talents back to Hopkinton, New Hampshire for the NCAA Northeast Regional Championships Friday morning. The Huskies competed and won the Bruce Kirsh Cross Country Cup earlier this season in Hopkinton and are eager to replicate this success on Friday. 

At the BIG EAST Championships, UConn finished third in the conference behind nationally ranked Georgetown and Providence. The Huskies were energized from a historic performance from top runner Chloe Thomas, who won the race with a blistering time of 19:36, 14 seconds ahead of the rest of the conference. Jenna Zydanowicz secured BIG EAST All-First Team honors, and Caroline Towle took home All-Second Team.

Quote from Director and Head Coach of Cross Country and Track & Field Beth Alford-Sullivan: 

"Excited for the Northeast Regionals. We are thrilled that the weather has held up for us and our training has been positive throughout the season, we're certainty tuned up and ready to go. The team is riding the momentum off of a very successful BIG EAST Championship and I hope that momentum will carry us through the course in New Hampshire."

Husky History: Thomas will be looking to make more history and secure the highest finish by a UConn women's runner at a regional. She currently has this distinction, finishing in 7^th last year. 

Northeast Regional Teams to Watch

Providence

The Friars came within one point of the BIG EAST championship against Georgetown, securing second place two weeks ago. PC was led by the strong core of Alex Millard, Kimberley May, Shannon Flockhart, and Laura Mooney. Millard was second overall in the race, finishing behind UConn's Thomas with a time of 19:50. May, Flockhart, and Mooney finished in 6^th, 8^th, and 10^th respectively, with the latter two sandwiching Zydanowicz in a competitive field. 

Boston College 

BC finished 6^th at the ACC Championships in Cary, NC on November 1^st. The Eagles come into regionals projected at No.2 in the Northeast. Abby Loveys was the top BC finisher at 20:09, which was good enough for 20^th in the conference. Loveys is joined by Roshni Singh, Aoife Dunne, and Abby Lewis, who all came in under 20:30. 

Syracuse 

'Cuse was not too far behind BC in the ACC, taking home 8^th in the 18-team field. Savannah Roark finished with a time 19:55, 13^th in the conference. Teammate Emma Eastman was just a couple of places behind, running the 6K course in 20:08 to finish 18^th. 

Harvard

Harvard finished in second at the Ivy League championships on November 2^nd in Princeton, New Jersey. The Crimson had two runners in the top 6, with Molly Malague in 5^th at 20:18 and Penelope Salmon crossing the line 5 seconds later at 20:23. 

Standout Individuals 

Columbia's Phoebe Anderson will be a runner to watch on Friday. Anderson won the Ivy League Championships at 19:52. Similar to UConn's Thomas, Anderson ran away from the pack, 12 seconds ahead of the second place finisher. Northeastern's Abigail Hassman was the top finisher for the top team in the CAA, as the Huskies won the championships in North Carolina on 11/1. Hassman dusted the field, 15 seconds ahead of the pack with a 6K time of 20:08.

Qualifying Procedures

The regional championships help teams advance to the Division I cross country championships each year. The top two teams in each regional secure automatic bids to the championship. The first four regional finishers not from an automatic qualifying or at-large team also secure an auto-bid to the championships.

If a team doesn't secure an automatic bid, it will have to rely on the NCAA DI Cross Country Subcommittee to select it as one of the 13 at-large teams.

In-Race Updates:  The race will kick off at 11am on Friday morning. Follow UConn cross country on Instagram, X, and Facebook @UConnxctf.