Final Results

In its final-ever appearance as an NCAA Division II institution, UMass Lowell crowned four individuals and two relay teams as All-Americans to close out the NCAA Track & Field Championship Saturday night at Colorado State University-Pueblo's Neta and Eddie DeRose ThunderBowl.

The UMass Lowell women, with four individuals and one relay team, compiled 18 points to place in a tie for 14^th while the men, also with four individuals and a relay team, placed tied for 31^st in the team standings.

The River Hawks, who will enter NCAA Division I and the America East Conference effective July 1, crowned three individual All-Americans in two events and both the women's and men's 4X400 relay teams on Saturday alone.

“All three days were mostly good. This was a great way to go out,” said head coach Gary Gardner. “The kids competed their hearts out. We're coming home with 12 All-American awards. That's pretty good.”

Junior Elisabeth Monty (Charlton, Mass.) and senior Antoinette Toussaint (Somerville, Mass.) earned the honors in both the 400 meter hurdles and the 4X400 meter relay while junior Candace Greene (Annapolis, Md.), making her fourth appearance at the NCAAs, earned All-America status in the shot put.

Seeded seventh, Greene opened the day for UMass Lowell by placing fifth in the shot put with a throw of 47 feet, 10.75 inches to earn All-America honors for the first time. The result came on her final attempt.

“Candace has never thrown well at an NCAA championship. It was in the back of my mind so I sure it was in the back of hers,” Gardner said. “When she threw 47' 8.5'' with her second throw, I knew that was good enough for the top eight. She really relaxed after that, and when she relaxed she had her best throw. She was one kid we were really hoping would get All-American.”

Monty and Toussaint placed fourth and fifth in the 400 meter hurdles as Monty posted a time of 59.03, despite hitting two hurdles. Toussaint was right behind in 59.20, a personal-best effort.

“Antoinette ran a perfect race and got a PR,” Gardner said. “Elisabeth smashed the second hurdle and tipped the seventh. She was in eighth or ninth and kept on fighting and fighting. It showed how far she's really come.”

Monty and Toussaint moved on to lead UMass Lowell's 4X400 meter relay team to fourth place and a school record for the second time in two days. The foursome ran 3:40.28 Friday night, but pipped the mark with a time of 3:39.70 Saturday.

Senior Shannon  Cunningham (Foxboro, Mass.) led off with a 56.08-second leg while sophomore Taelour Murphy (Salisbury, Mass.) followed in a speedy 53.66 to bring the foursome as high as second place. Monty ran the third split in 55.22 and Toussaint anchored in 54.54.

“That first leg was a fast leg, and we fell behind a little,” Gardner noted. “Then Taelour runs a 53.6 split, which is just an incredible, bigtime split. I was a little nervous with Antoinette and Lisl (Monty) coming back on only 90 minutes rest, but they did great.

“It is scary to think what this foursome can do on fresh legs,” he added.

Seeded 18^th and racing together for only the fourth time this season, UMass Lowell's men's 4X400 team placed seventh but improved to sixth when Grand Canyon University was disqualified. The River Hawks posted a time of 3:10.50 as senior Craig Bennett (Milton, Mass.) led off with a 47.75-second split while junior Tim Regan (Sandwich, Mass.) followed in 47.08, junior Casey O'Brien (Seekonk, Mass.) in 47.74 and junior Keith Lewis (Nashua, N.H.) the anchor in 47.69.

“Considering we put together a team at the last minute, these kids battled and battled,” said Gardner. “Keith's last leg was all guts.”

Senior Jeff Veiga (Lowell, Mass.), who placed fourth and earned All-American honors Thursday night in the 10,000 meters, rallied over the final lap of the 5,000 meters to place ninth but one place short of All-American status with a time of 14:53.85.

“Jeff was 50 meters back with 400 meters to go. He ran 62 seconds for his last lap and nearly caught up with the top eight,” said Gardner. “Considering that was his second race at altitude, he ran great.”