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http://today.uconn.edu/2017/06/uconn-runner-compete-ncaa-championships/
Sophomore runner Susan Aneno’s cross-country trip this week to Eugene, Oregon, and the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships will be her latest adventure in what has been an eventful two years.
Originally from Mpigi, Uganda on the eastern side of Africa, Aneno’s journey to UConn began in high school after she received interest from head coach J.J. Clark.
“I knew Coach Clark before I came to the U.S. because he went to Uganda to recruit me when I was in high school,” says Aneno. “He was the first American coach I met, and all along I wanted to run for him.”
However, fate would put Aneno at Middle Tennessee State for her freshman season, where she ran cross country, indoor track, and outdoor track for the Blue Raiders. Aneno competed in the NCAA Regionals in outdoor competition, falling just short of a trip to Oregon last year.
She transferred to UConn as a sophomore, just in time to compete during the outdoor season in 2017. The decision to transfer came relatively easily to Aneno, once she had gained her footing as a student-athlete in the U.S.
“UConn is a great school in terms of academics and it has a great business program,” she says. “I was taking accounting, so I knew if I got into the School of Business at UConn, I would have a better opportunity after graduation.”
Another reason for choosing UConn was to be closer to her uncle and cousins in Connecticut – her closest family members that aren’t almost 7,000 miles away in Africa. And getting to run for Clark made UConn a slam-dunk.
“Given Coach Clark’s history in training good 800m runners, I knew if I trained with him, he would make me a great runner too,” she says.
Now with the chance to compete for UConn in the 800m event at her first-career NCAA Championships, Aneno and Clark traveled to Eugene on Monday afternoon to prepare for her semifinal race on Thursday at 9:14 p.m. (ET).
Sophomore runner Susan Aneno’s cross-country trip this week to Eugene, Oregon, and the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships will be her latest adventure in what has been an eventful two years.
Originally from Mpigi, Uganda on the eastern side of Africa, Aneno’s journey to UConn began in high school after she received interest from head coach J.J. Clark.
“I knew Coach Clark before I came to the U.S. because he went to Uganda to recruit me when I was in high school,” says Aneno. “He was the first American coach I met, and all along I wanted to run for him.”
However, fate would put Aneno at Middle Tennessee State for her freshman season, where she ran cross country, indoor track, and outdoor track for the Blue Raiders. Aneno competed in the NCAA Regionals in outdoor competition, falling just short of a trip to Oregon last year.
She transferred to UConn as a sophomore, just in time to compete during the outdoor season in 2017. The decision to transfer came relatively easily to Aneno, once she had gained her footing as a student-athlete in the U.S.
“UConn is a great school in terms of academics and it has a great business program,” she says. “I was taking accounting, so I knew if I got into the School of Business at UConn, I would have a better opportunity after graduation.”
Another reason for choosing UConn was to be closer to her uncle and cousins in Connecticut – her closest family members that aren’t almost 7,000 miles away in Africa. And getting to run for Clark made UConn a slam-dunk.
“Given Coach Clark’s history in training good 800m runners, I knew if I trained with him, he would make me a great runner too,” she says.
Now with the chance to compete for UConn in the 800m event at her first-career NCAA Championships, Aneno and Clark traveled to Eugene on Monday afternoon to prepare for her semifinal race on Thursday at 9:14 p.m. (ET).