Men's cross country looks to young team in rebuilding year

If you asked coach Richard Miller this December if the men's cross country season was a success, he wouldn't be able to give you a concrete answer.

"We measure the cross country season's success at the end of the outdoor track season," Miller said.

Coming off a "successful cross country year last year," according to Miller, UConn hopes to improve the whole year and continue their rich tradition in indoor track and outdoor track.

"Since most runners compete in all three seasons, cross country is a stepping stone for our athletes," Miller said.

Some UConn cross country runners earned All-Conference and All-American honors in track. Will Sanders, who will redshirt the cross-country season, will be back as one of the Huskies top athletes in the winter and spring.

Two top runners in the fall will be senior Brian Gagnon and junior Michael Rutt.

Miller still believes this will be a rebuilding year because most of the runners are inexperienced.

"Our top runners could be freshmen or sophomores." Miller said. "Some kids are running cross country for the first time and we are excited to see how they do."

The Huskies competed in the Fairfield Invitational on Sept. 13. The team placed fifth out of eight with 132 points. Freshman Andrew Judd was the best finisher for UConn in 15th place. Another freshman followed as Luke Albertson placed 16th. On Sept. 20 UConn traveled north to the UMass Invitational. The Huskies placed fifth out of five teams with 141 points.

The host Minutemen won the meet easily with 19 points. Albertson finished No. 1 for the Huskies and No. 24 overall.

The Huskies will keep building up to the Big East and National Championships, but like coach Miller says, the team won't find out how successful the season will be until May.