Sept. 4, 2010

Results

Sophomores Gina Butler (Dracut, Mass.) and Nicole Skotz (Tewksbury, Mass.) placed fifth and sixth overall to lead the UMass Lowell women’s cross country team to second place Saturday at the Keene State Alumni Invitational Saturday.

The River Hawks compiled 47 points (5, 6, 8, 11, 17 – 19, 29) and placed second to the host Owls, who won the Invitational with 25 points. Babson placed third with 65 points while Assumption (120) took fourth, Fitchburg State (137) fifth and Norwich (147) sixth.

“Basically we were looking for them to run faster than they did a year ago here, which they did,” said Head Coach Gary Gardner, a 1994 graduate of Keene State in his ninth season. “We were looking for Gina to bounce back from a rough indoor and outdoor season from last year, and she did so very well. Colleen and Nicole in particular have made huge strides from last season.”

Butler ran the two-mile course in 12 minutes, 25 seconds while Skotz was right behind in 12:29.

Sophomore Colleen Kennedy (Wilmington, Mass.) placed eighth overall in 12:38 while junior MaryAnn Ford (Woburn, Mass.) took 11th in 13:01 and senior Jennifer Carr (Tewksbury, Mass.) 17th in 13:26 to complete UMass Lowell’s scoring effort.

Sophomore Jasmin Medeiros (Rehoboth, Mass.) placed 20th overall (19th among scoring runners) in 13:36 while sophomore Jasmine Mahotiere (Lowell, Mass.) placed 40th/29th in 14:20.

Paige Mills of Keene State won the individual title in 11:48 and was followed by teammate Amy Knoblock in 12:18.

UMass Lowell returns to action Saturday, Sept. 18 at the UMass Dartmouth Invitational.