Thursday's Full Results

Senior Angus MacDonald (Methuen, Mass.) placed seventh in the 1,500 meters preliminary to advance to the final Saturday and highlight the first day of the NCAA Division II Track & Field Championship Thursday at Colorado State-Pueblo's Neta and Eddie DeRose ThunderBowl.

MacDonald, making his 11^th and 12^th appearances in the NCAA Championship (he will run the 5,000 meters Saturday at 10:30 p.m.), ran the course in 3:59.19 and placed fourth in his heat. Senior Mark McLain of Colorado School of Mines won the preliminary in 3:58.35 as 6.59 seconds separated places 1-12.

“Angus sat in last place through the first 1,000 meters and moved up into the top four and stayed there,” said head coach Gary Gardner. “He was pretty relaxed. He really ran with as little effort as he could to make the final. We wanted him to conserve as much energy as possible.

“Angus has been out here long enough to know how to handle the preliminary,” Gardner added. “It went as well as we possibly could've hoped.”

MacDonald, a nine-time All-American, looks to earn the honor in the 1,500 meters after placing 13^th in the preliminary last season. The top eight finishers in each event earn All-American honors.

Sophomore Antoinette Toussaint (Somerville, Mass.), making her first appearance in the NCAAs, placed 14^th in the 400 meter hurdles in 1:02.67 to fall short of Saturday's final by 2.37 seconds. Senior Kaymarie Jones of Adams State placed first in 58.22 seconds.

Toussaint actually led the field for more than half the race, but began to lose steam around the final turn.

“Antoinette went out a little harder than she should have. I think it was a result of her being in lane nine and not being able to see anyone,” said Gardner. “She will be better a year from now. We're not disappointed in her effort. She ran hard. We just didn't get the results we were hoping for.

“When she was done we sat down and talked about what she needed to do over the summer,” Gardner added. “We think she can be a 59-second hurdler. She's certainly talented to be the best 400 hurdler we've ever had. She's definitely motivated, which is great.”

UMass Lowell continues on Friday as senior Ashley Zielinski (Manchester, N.H.) runs the 100 meter hurdles preliminary at 8:40 p.m. while the men's 4X400 meter relay team – freshman Ryad Bencheikh (Woburn, Mass.), sophomores Tim Regan (Sandwich, Mass.) and Keith Lewis (Nashua, N.H.), and junior Craig Bennett (Milton, Mass.) – runs its heat at 10:10 p.m.
 
 
UMass Lowell's NCAA Championship Schedule
 
Friday, May 25
8:40 p.m         Women's 100 Meter Hurdles Preliminary (Ashley Zielinski)
10:10 p.m       Men's 4X400 Meter Relay Preliminary (Craig Bennett, Ryad Bencheikh,
                        Tim Regan, Keith Lewis)
 
Saturday, May 26
4:30 p.m.         Women's Shot Put (Candace Greene)
7:45 p.m.         Men's 1,500 Meters Final (MacDonald)
7:55 p.m.         Women's 100 Meter Hurdles Final (Zielinski)
10:30 p.m.       Men's 5,000 Meters (MacDonald)
11:05 p.m.       Men's 4X400 Meter Relay Final