CCSU, UConn runners are set to compete in NCAA championships
With about a half-mile to go in the Northeast Conference cross country championships on Feb. 27, Ashley Dana and her Central Connecticut State University teammate Angie Rafter were running together, far ahead of the rest of the pack, when they both slipped in the mud and went down.
They recovered quickly. Dana went on to edge Rafter, the two-time defending conference champion, in a photo finish to win the title in 17 minutes, 35.5 seconds.
With the win, Dana, a junior from Middlefield, became the first CCSU runner since 2013 to qualify for the NCAA championships, which will take place Monday at Oklahoma State’s cross country course in Stillwater.
UConn senior Eric Van Der Els also qualified after finishing fourth at the Big
East championships.
This year, the qualification standards are a little different, as is the date. Normally, the NCAA cross country championships are held in late November. This year, many college fall sports seasons were moved to late winter and many college cross country teams didn’t start competing until February before their conference championships. The winners of the conference championships were automatic qualifiers. Normally, the individuals and teams qualify through regional races, which were not held this season.
Dana was an automatic qualifier. Van Der Els was selected to compete, but he to wait until the NCAA’s selection show March 7 to find out if he made it.
“It was a little nerve-wracking watching,” he said. “I was hoping I’d make it. I thought I had a good chance.”
Van Der Els, of Norwalk, is the first UConn men’s cross country runner to go to the NCAA championship since 2006. He missed qualifying by a second in 2019 after falling down at the start of the regional race. On March 5, he finished the Big East championship 8-kilometer race in Cary, North Carolina, in 23:17.4.
UConn went to two meets before the Big East championships. The Northeast Conference meet was Central Connecticut’s first — and last — of the season.
That day, Central Connecticut coach Eric Blake was out on the course at the Heather Hill Country Club in Plainville, Massachusetts, watching the race, which his team won for the third straight year.
“I was following the team score, and our fifth runner was in about 14th place and I was thinking, ‘We have a really good shot at winning this. Things are looking really good’ ” Blake said. “Then I heard someone yell, ‘Get up!’ and I look over and both Ashley and Angie are in the mud.”
Said Dana: “That freaked us out a little bit. Weweren’t sure howbig of a gap we had. We got up pretty quick. It took a little bit out of us, but it was so close to the end, we were able to shake it off and get through the rest and it was a very close finish.”
Rafter, a senior, fell across the finish line. Dana barely outleaned her. They didn’t know who won for about 15 minutes.
“They’re both incredible teammates,” Blake said. “Angie won the previous two years, and losing by less than a second the bus ride or the award ceremony for our team, it could have had a different feel, but Angie’s not like that at all. She was happy for Ashley.”