Any information on the UCONN XC/TF Distance Program?

I know it is less successful than the UCONN women's basketball team.

youneedthefeel wrote:

I know it is less successful than the UCONN women's basketball team.

They seem to get all the top recruits in the state and don't do anything with them. There are actually other programs in the area doing much better with far less talent.

Not sure if it's still this way, but they used to focus on their middle distance program. As a result their cross country teams stunk since it was full of middle distance guys, and they weren't interested in true distance types.

My understanding is that Coach Roy's program is one of low mileage and relatively high intensity, without any emphasis on aerobic development workouts such as tempo runs and long runs.

Furthermore, Roy allegedly has not done a good job of individualizing training of late. That is to say, everyone on the team is expected to hang on together during workouts, meaning that only the top guys will get the proper stimulus, while younger or slower athletes will get run into the ground.

For what it's worth, the program has produced a number of strong 800-1500m types since the year 2000 (see: Mike Rutt, Brian Gagnon), but UCONN has had disproportionately poor cross country results during the same time frame.

There will always be one or two distance athletes who run reasonably well off Roy's training, but they are the exception, not the rule. Too many other athletes, including major high school studs, end up quitting the team (Brian Fowler, Alex Levine) for me to recommend the program.

Unless you're a low 1:50s 800m runner in high school, look elsewhere; statistically speaking, you're not likely to pan out if you.

Genosdancepartner wrote:

youneedthefeel wrote:

I know it is less successful than the UCONN women's basketball team.

They seem to get all the top recruits in the state and don't do anything with them. There are actually other programs in the area doing much better with far less talent.

SCSU and CCSU to name just two

I loved the indoor facility at SCSU, if it's the same one from the 90's.

The only thing I know is that in line at the Penn chipotle today some joker on UConn's team ordered a "quesarito", a burrito wrapped with a quesadilla.

My_Krutt and Bgags69 sure are some shining stars.

First want to point out I'm currently an athlete at UConn on our XC and Track teams, take that as you will.

I know many people knock Coach Roy for his ways but if you work with him he will work with you, and if you stick to his training you will run fast. The program works to develop tough runners, guys who can respond to any race situation.

Many people in the running world still know us as the "old UConn", the program that was just focused 800-1500m guys. But times have changed as of recent where our XC, and 3k-10k guys get just as much attention as the 800 - 1500 guys. The "new UConn" is all about aerobic development, tempo runs are a staple of our training, as are long runs. It is true in the past Coach Roy did not believe in tempo runs but now we do them almost weekly. Other workouts depend on your event but speed development then typically comes in the form of intervals, for XC we do longer stuff on grass. The focus now is really trying to develop a nationally competitive distance program, along with a nationally competitive track team (throws, sprints, jumps, etc).

Other than the running aspect there is also the team itself and the academics. I'm sure many guys think this about their teams but I have to say we have a really good dynamic going with all the guys on our team, a wide range of everything socially, and academically (Psych to Pre-Med to Environmental to Engineering). No matter what you like or what you want to study you will be a fit. UConn as a school is growing very rapidly, currently listed as a "public ivy" and only going up from here. You can check out the 30 year plan online and the growth will only help the caliber of your degree.

Many posts you find on here or anywhere on the web will describe the "old UConn" but trust me we've changed and only for the better.

Awad's rival's friend wrote:

The only thing I know is that in line at the Penn chipotle today some joker on UConn's team ordered a "quesarito", a burrito wrapped with a quesadilla.

Jokes on your because there were actually 4 of us.

Current_UConn wrote:

UConn as a school is growing very rapidly, currently listed as a "public ivy" and only going up from here. You can check out the 30 year plan online and the growth will only help the caliber of your degree.

Many posts you find on here or anywhere on the web will describe the "old UConn" but trust me we've changed and only for the better.

I am also a uconn student, and first I'd like to admire your statement boasting UConn as a "public ivy". There is certainly a wide distribution of academic ambitions here, but there are some true numb nuts to go with every aspiring doctor/engineer/PhD student/etc. If you go to UConn, you just have to be smart with your connections - you must network and work your way into research/internship/etc opportunities, and if you do, you'll succeed.

As for the actual track/XC program... I would say you must be Coach Roy himself with the praise you give the program, but your writing style is far from his, so it cannot be. Your writing doesn't sound like Coach Miller either, so it's interesting where this writing comes from. Such praise from an actual athlete would be curious to say the least.

In regard to my two cents on the program... to be concise, I'm to the understanding that you get attention if you seem like you'll score at conferences that season. Otherwise, attention may be hard to come by.

A friend of mine was on the team and left because he felt it was a bad fit for him... I didn't press about why it was.

The program is designed to produce tough runners who race to win. When you see a uconn distance guy run, he absolutely brings it. Regardless of the kid's talent level and the end result, they race TOUGH.

If you're the kind of runner who will COMPETE and rise to the occasion, uconn is a great fit. If you're one to choke under pressure, you won't last long in the program. Results matter - everyone can be replaced, so Coach Roy won't waste his time on someone weak minded and unreliable.

The talent has been hit and miss lately, but it's trending upward now. If you look at the most successful uconn distance runners in the past 10 or so years, they finish harder than anyone else at the end of the race. They want it more. That kind of toughness comes from the program and the coaching. The training is fine and it works, but the toughness is something that other programs can't replicate.

In order to make it on UCONN XC/TF, you must be BUFF and SHREDDED. If you aren't, you won't be able to hang for the pushups in between reps around mirror lake, and you won't get girls. Distance runners at other programs are not BUFF, and so they do not get girls like the guys at UCONN.

uconn xfit wrote:

In order to make it on UCONN XC/TF, you must be BUFF and SHREDDED. If you aren't, you won't be able to hang for the pushups in between reps around mirror lake, and you won't get girls. Distance runners at other programs are not BUFF, and so they do not get girls like the guys at UCONN.

I think what my friend here is trying to say is, we only accept mesos, NO ECTOS ALLOWED

Whatever happened to the poster UCONNfrosh or whatever it was

Toughness for the sake of toughness gets you nowhere.

Roy has enjoyed the luxury of several high-caliber recruits over the past decade, and those runners have produced almost no performances of note above the 1500m distance.

Let us say, for the sake of argument, that Roy does indeed do a good job of molding his athletes into stoic spartans who grit their teeth and close races hard. Even so - if his training were up to snuff, his runners would also actually run fast. There's enough talent on the team that running "tough" and running fast shouldn't be mutually exclusive.

You may believe that Roy's training makes UConn's guys more gritty, but the training system obviously doesn't help true distance athletes run to their potential.

"luxury of several high-caliber recruits" is quite the exaggeration. I don't know how many recruits they sign where anyone would say that kid is destined to become an all-american in college. I'd wager that number is much smaller than the actual number of distance/mid distance all-americans they had.

When they were in the big east conference, they'd be dumb to focus on the 5k and up and go head to head with Syracuse, Providence, Notre Dame, Villanova, Georgetown and Louisville. Those schools pour money into long distance. UCONN wisely focused on middle distance and produced tons of all--americans and were able to win a ton of indoor and outdoor conference TEAM championships.

So if you already tough and a good competitor, then you are a good fit for this program, and then it will make you tough and competitive in a way that cannot be replicated. Sounds pretty awesome.