College coaches have an infinite number of strategies when it comes to signing top recruits.

From fully paid official visits to showing off the luxurious team facilities, coaches do whatever it takes to one-up competing schools.

But when Syracuse cross country head coach Chris Fox set his sights on Danbury (Conn.) High School standout Joseph Bubniak, all he had to do was throw the right names around.

‘It was definitely between a few schools, and it was pretty close,’ said Bubniak, a freshman distance runner. ‘Coach threw out the names Brady (Becker) and Ricky (Balmaseda) a bunch, and that really did help.’

Though traditional recruiting methods were exhausted, Fox capitalized on something he knew no other school had.

Brady Becker and Ricky Balmaseda, a junior and sophomore, respectively, hail from Danbury, as well. Coming from a top-notch high school cross country team, the three athletes were extremely close and kept in contact over the years. The connection was enough for Bubniak to choose the Orange.

‘Syracuse was just the overall best fit for me,’ Bubniak said. ‘Having some connections and knowing some people made me feel very comfortable here. I knew a ton about the school because of them and they gave me a very nice comfort level that I didn’t have at other schools.’

The Danbury connection, however, does not stop there: freshman Chris Pristouris is from Danbury, as well. Pristouris and Bubniak room together, as do Becker and Balmaseda.

Becker, the oldest of the Danbury contingency, started the trend. Attracted to SU because his father and both grandparents are alumni, Becker was extremely excited to hear he had familiar company on the way.

‘I talked to Ricky a ton, and then he came, and we had a ton of fun,’ Becker said. ‘When we heard Chris and Joey were interested we talked to them a bunch and invited them to stay with us, and now the Danbury crew is reunited, it is great to be a family again.’

Though the three runners are on different schedules and have their own groups of friends, they always find time for what Becker called ‘Danbury time.’ They hang out, go on runs and enjoy the special bond they have built over the years.

Though it appears there is a strong tie between Danbury and Syracuse, Fox views it as more of a lucky coincidence.

‘I don’t know exactly what happened,’ Fox said. ‘All of a sudden now we get a million letters from kids from Danbury, which is great. They are one of the premiere East Coast high school programs.’

Fox isn’t complaining about the sudden influx of interest from Danbury, given the high school’s impressive lineage in the sport. Danbury High School has won numerous state titles and is ranked nationally almost every year. In 2007, the Danbury cross country team was nationally-ranked No. 1 in the preseason polls and finished No. 5 at the Nike Team Nationals.

Considering the schools’ close proximity to Syracuse, the SU-Danbury connection seemed inevitable.

‘We appeal to East Coast kids,’ Fox said. ‘There is no real distance running programs around. [The University of Connecticut] is a great track program, but they don’t focus on distance running like we do, and sometimes those kids want to stay close, but leave the state, so they come here.’

Though the idea of going from one successful cross country program to another is certainly appealing, SU now has something more to offer future Danbury runners.

‘Both are obviously very strong programs,’ Becker said. ‘But the fact that Danbury guys are here makes it all come together and form a perfect match. I don’t know what people’s rationalizations for picking a school are, but I would think a big part would be knowing [that] other Danbury guys are here.’

restern@syr.edu