Nov. 8, 2009

Junior Angus MacDonald (Methuen, MA) placed third overall to lead UMass Lowell to the NCAA East Region Cross Country Championship Sunday afternoon at Franklin Park.

The title was UMass Lowell’s second straight and seventh regional crown in the last nine years as the River Hawks placed five runners in the top 13 places and all seven in the top 17 spots.

UMass Lowell scored 43 points (3, 5, 10, 12, 13 – 16, 17), led by MacDonald, who ran the five-mile course in 31 minutes, 14.17 seconds. Stonehill scored 67 points (4, 8, 9, 18, 28 – 39, 40) to place second while Bentley (130) came in third, Adelphi (131) fourth and American International College (141) fifth.

UMass Lowell and Stonehill will both represent the NCAA East Region at the 2009 NCAA Championship Saturday, Nov. 21, at Southern Indiana University in Evansville, IN.

“Our men ran great over the last 3-4K and held on the win,” said UML head coach Gary Gardner. “Stonehill was beating us bad at the 5K mark, but our guys stayed close and ran a very gutsy race. I was extremely proud of their effort.”

MacDonald, who earned NCAA All-East Region honors for the second straight year, led four teammates on the All-East Region Team, which was made up of the top 15 runners.

Just 37.1 seconds separated UMass Lowell’s next four runners.

Senior Tim Guerin (Auburn, MA) placed fifth in 31:45.8 while sophomore Eric McDonald (Groveland, MA) placed 10th in 32:12.8. Sophomore Danny Wang (Haverhill, MA) placed 12th in 32:21.9 while senior Steve O’Brien (Groton, MA) was right behind in 13th in 32:22.7.

Junior Greg Wilson (Chelmsford, MA) and junior Sean Gelinas (Northwood, NH) placed 16th and 17th, to bolster UMass Lowell’s lead. Wilson ran the course in 32:25.0 while Gelinas posted a time of 32:26.4.

Glarius Rop of American International College won the men’s individual title with a time of 30:15.9.