JOPLIN, MO (Nov. 17, 2007) – Junior Ruben Sanca (Boston, MA) placed 24th overall and 22nd among scoring runners to earn All-American status as UMass Lowell finished 13th at the NCAA Division II Cross Country Championship Saturday at Missouri Southern State.

The River Hawks, who were seeded 13th entering the race, scored 331 points (22, 61, 72, 78, 98) and were the top-finishing team in the Northeast Region, edging Stonehill, which placed 18th with 434 points (56, 63, 101, 103, 111).

Abilene Christian (TX) won the team title with 59 points (1, 3, 6, 24, 25), led by individual champion Nicodemus Naimadu, who placed first in 29.39.7.

The race consisted of 24 teams and 187 runners.

Sanca ran the 10K course in 31 minutes, 13.7 seconds as all five of UML’s runners finished within a 2:02.9 window. Sanca was the runner-up among Northeast Region runners as sophomore Evans Kigen of New York Institute of Technology placed eighth in 30:30.6.

Sanca is the first UML runner to earn cross country All-American honors since 2004, when graduate student Chris Kapfer placed 13th.

“This ranks up there with some of the best performances we’ve ever had,” lauded UML head coach Gary Gardner. “I could not be more proud of them.”

The River Hawks achieved the finish despite missing graduate student Stephen DeWitt (Ellsworth, ME) and senior Joey DeWitt (Ellsworth, ME), who were each forced to withdraw due to heat exhaustion. Stephen DeWitt withdrew roughly four miles into the race while Joey DeWitt was forced to bow out within a mile of the finish.

“The heat got to both of them,” said Gardner. “The temperature was probably 72 or 73 degrees. They both went out a little too hard, but the kids behind them ran great.”

Several UML runners enjoyed career races, notably freshman Angus MacDonald (Methuen, MA), who placed 74th overall and 61st among scoring runners in 32:28.7. Junior Jason DeDonato (Nashua, NH) placed 89th/72nd in 32:45.2 while sophomore Tim Guerin (Auburn, MA) placed 95th/78th in 32:52.1

Junior Jack Kilcommons (South Boston, MA) rounded out the UML quintet by placing 117th/98th in 33:15.6.

“We ran our seed without two of our top three runners,” Gardner noted. “No team does that without two of their top three guys. This is a great confidence booster because all of the kids who finished today will be back next year.”

UML opens the indoor track and field season Saturday Dec. 1 at the Northeastern Husky Invitational.