Day 2 Results

UMass Lowell's women's and men's 4X400 meter relay teams both qualified for the finals to highlight a busy night at the NCAA Division II Track and Field Championship Friday at Colorado State University Pueblo's Neta and Eddie DeRose ThunderBowl.

“We've had a great two days,” said head coach Gary Gardner. “When the worst thing that happens to you is Elisabeth Monty (Charlton, Mass.) runs her second fastest time ever in the 100 meter hurdles, I think we're doing OK.”

The UMass Lowell women's 4X400 team, seeded eighth, shattered the school record for the second time this season, placing third overall in 3:40.28, just behind runner-up Grand Canyon (3:39.06) and St. Augustine's (3:38.26). The foursome put together three splits under 55 seconds.

Senior Shannon Cunningham (Foxboro, Mass.) led off in 56.28 while sophomore Taelour Murphy (Salisbury, Mass.) followed in 54.32, Monty in 54.80 and senior Antoinette Toussaint (Somerville, Mass.) in 54.61.

The foursome moves on to the final Saturday night at 10:55 p.m.

“We knew they could run faster than they had,” Gardner said. “When they hit the school record at Brown (3:44.33) it was 55 degrees outside. They did it again at Penn (3:43.76), which isn't a great track to run on. So we knew when they put it all together they could hit a fast time.

“They all ran great. Hopefully they can do it one more time,” Gardner added.

UMass Lowell's men's 4X400 meter relay team, seeded 12^th, ran a season-best 3:10.22 to place ninth and snatch the final qualifying spot for Saturday's final (11:05 p.m.).

Senior Craig Bennett (Milton, Mass.) led off in 47.48 while junior Tim Regan (Sandwich, Mass.) followed in 47.45, junior Casey O'Brien (Seekonk, Mass.) in 47.34 and junior Keith Lewis (Nashua, N.H.) in 47.43.

“That was almost a four-second personal-best for that quartet,” said Gardner. “They ran as well as they could. They did a god job of staying focused. I told them before the race that if they can put together a good, collective race, they would be running Saturday night.”

Individually, no River Hawks qualified for finals, but each exceeded their seeds, led by Murphy, who set a school record for the second time this season. Seeded 17^th, Murphy placed 11^th in the 200 meter dash in 23.90 seconds, just two places and 0.13 seconds off the final qualifying place.

Murphy's mark edged her previous record of 24.10 seconds, set at the Princeton Invitational Apr. 21.

“Taelour ran great,” said Gardner. “In the first section of the 200, there was a massive tail wind, and then it died. She still set a school record. She wasn't disappointed. She came back and ran fabulous on the 4X4, which shows what great shape she is in. There is nothing to be disappointed about.”

Monty, who booked her place in the 400 meters final Thursday by placing second, placed 11^th in the 100 meter hurdles in 13.73, the second fastest time in school history. Monty was two places and 0.04 second shy of qualifying for the final.

“Lisl got out a little slow in the 100, but again, she ran the second fastest time in school history,” said Gardner.

Also in action was junior David Brown (Chelmsford, Mass.) in the 800 meters preliminary. Seeded 21^st, Brown finished 19^th in 1:54.47, which was seventh in his heat.

The NCAA Championship continues Saturday at 5:30 with junior Candace Greene (Annapolis, Md.) in the shot put. Monty and Toussaint follow at 9:20 p.m. in the 400 meter hurdles final while senior Jeff Veiga (Lowell, Mass.) runs the 5,000 meters at 10:30.

The women's and men's 4X400 relays cap the day at 10:55 and 11:05, respectively.