BRONX, N.Y. – The UConn cross country team took part in the 2023 NCAA Northeast Regional on Friday morning at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, N.Y. with the Huskies turning in a sixth-place team finish.
The Huskies finished with 179 total points and had a pair of runners finish in the top-15. Syracuse took home the regional championship with 98 points and was followed by Boston College (109), Providence (137), Harvard (140) and Columbia (167).
UConn junior Chloe Thomas (Dundas, Ontario) led the Huskies on Friday as she has all season and took seventh place in the field of 199 runners. Thomas posted a time of 20:01.0 on the 6K course to finish as UConn's top-finisher and earn All-Region honors. It was her highest ever finish at the regional race and earned her all-region honors for the second time. She will await the announcement of the NCAA Championship field on Saturday to see if she will claim an at-large invitation into the field.
Senior Jenna Zydanowicz (West Hartford, Conn.) all earned NCAA All-Region honors with a 14th place finish on Friday. Zydanowicz clocked a 20:13.2, improving on her 60th place finish from last fall on this same course. Classmate Caroline Towle (Bedford, Mass.) also made a huge jump from last season, jumping up from 62nd in 2022 to 24th overall this year. Towle posted a time of 20:29.5 to earn All-Region honors as well.
"We made huge improvements," commented Director of Cross Country and Track & Field Beth Alford-Sullivan. "We ran extremely well and a very competitive race today. Just tremendous finishes on from our top three and our improvements from last year were just insane. These young women came here and competed hard. The northeast is an extremely tough and competitive region, and we came out and went after it. That's what we do and I'm extremely proud of our effort today."
Freshman Malin Rahm (Schaffhausen, Switzerland) had an impressive showing in her first regional championship race, taking 62nd with a time of 21:07.2. Senior Sophie Coughlin (Melbourne, Australia) was 72nd with a time of 21:12.9. Rounding out the UConn seven was Rachel Woodruff (Saranac, N.Y.) in 85th at 21:23.9 and Chloe Trudel (Amherst, N.H.) in 90th at 21:26.9, a new personal best 6K time.
UConn and Thomas will wait to see if her named will be called for an individual bid to the NCAA Championship when the field is announced at 5 pm on Saturday. The top two teams in each NCAA 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.
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