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Sept. 4, 2010
Freshmen Andrew Stamatopoulos (Methuen, Mass.) and Tyler Sullivan (Methuen, Mass.) placed eight and 11th overall - fourth and seventh among scoring runners - to lead the UMass Lowell men's cross country team to second place at the season-opening Keene State Alumni Invitational Saturday.
UMass Lowell scored 50 points (4, 7, 12, 13, 14 - 15, 16) and finished behind the host Owls, who scored 23 points. Fitchburg State placed third with 89 points and was followed by Norwich (125), Babson (142), Assumption (155) and New England College (169).
"The times that our guys ran today are faster than any of the freshmen ran in 2008 or 2009," said Head Coach Gary Gardner, a 1994 graduate of Keene State in his ninth year. "The course was a little longer than a 5K. I am hoping these guys can add depth to the team."
Stamatopoulos ran the course in 16 minutes, 35 seconds while Sullivan was close behind in 16:47. Freshman Chris Favulli (Shrewsbury, Mass.) placed 17th overall and 12th among scorers in 17:08 while Steve Fitzsimmons (Methuen, Mass.) placed 19th/13th in 17:12 and freshman Max O'Brien (North Andover, Mass.) 22nd/14th in 17:23 to cap the scoring.
Freshmen Jake Gleason (Newton, Mass.) took 23rd/15th in 17:25 and was followed by freshman Matthew Hernon (Mansfield, Mass.) in 24th/16th in 17:31; and Zach Schaeffer (Hudson, Mass.) in 25th in 17:37.
Pete Najem, running independently, won the race in 16:04, just ahead of Eric McKnight of Keene State in 16:05.
UMass Lowell returns to action Saturday, Sept. 18 at the UMass Dartmouth Invitational.
