Oct. 3, 2009

Junior Lyra Clark (Nashua, NH) placed third individually to lead the UMass Lowell women's cross country team to seventh place at the Keene State College Invitational Saturday afternoon.

UMass Lowell compiled 172 points (3, 31, 37, 49, 52) as Clark ran the 5K course in 19:00 flat, trailing only Sophie Galleher of Amherst (18:40) and Amanda Di Paolo of Springfield College (18:59).

Amherst College won the team title with a score of 25 (1, 4, 5, 6, 9) while the host Owls placed second with 85 points (8, 10, 16, 18, 33) and MIT third with 90 points (13, 17, 19, 20, 21).

Junior Patricia Brice (Chelmsford, MA), making her firs appearance of the season, placed 31st among scoring runners and 38th overall in 20:28 while junior Jennifer Nicoloro (Waltham, MA) placed 37th/47th in 20:48.

Junior Jenna Lapachinski (Turners Falls, MA) placed 49th/68th in 21:25 while freshman Jessica Davis (Quincy, MA) placed 52nd/75th in 21:48 and senior Jenna Banks (North Attleboro, MA) 61st/85th in 22:07.

The race drew 143 runners representing 12 colleges. On the men's side, junior Jason O'Connell (Mansfield, MA) ran the five-mile course in 27:38 to place 48th in a field of 144 runners.

UMass Lowell, with only four runners, did not figure into the team scoring.

Freshman Erik Dunn-Gaudet (Northampton, MA) placed 57th in 27:49 while freshman Brenden Guinee (Salem, NH) took 104th in 29:34; and freshman Conor Westwater (North Andover, MA) 114th in 30:18.

Keene State won the team title with 44 points (3, 7, 9, 10, 15) while Dartmouth took second with 65 points (4, 6, 8, 20, 27) and Amherst third with 69 points (1, 13, 14, 17, 24).

Former UMass Lowell standout Ruben Sanca, competing as an independent, won the individual title in 25:05 while Daniel Murner of Amherst placed second (first among scoring runners) in 25:54.

Both the UMass Lowell men and women enter the New England Championship next Saturday at Franklin Park in Boston.