Oct. 25, 2009

Junior Lyra Clark (Nashua, NH) and senior Haley Catarius (Marshfield, MA) placed third and sixth to lead the UMass Lowell women’s cross country team to second place at the Northeast-10 Conference Championship Sunday morning at Saint Michael’s College.

Stonehill captured the team title with 37 points (2, 4, 8, 10, 13 – 21, 27) as it placed four runners in the top 10 places. UMass Lowell, with four runners among the top 12, compiled 53 points (3, 6, 9, 12, 23 – 30, 36) to finish second.

Southern Connecticut (126) took third while Adelphi (131) and Saint Rose (164) completed the top five. Bentley (169), New Haven (220), Merrimack (233), Le Moyne (272) and American International College (284) finished sixth through 10th.

Clark and Catarius were each named to the NE-10 All-Conference First Team, signifying Clark’s third appearance in as many years. Catarius, a Second Team standout in 2008, earned her second straight NE-10 all-star honor.

The top 21 runners earned all-conference status: places 1-7 to the first team, 8-14 to the second team and 15-21 to the third team.

Clark ran the 5K course in 18:47.6 while Catarius finished in 19:06.1. Junior Sarah Bonomo (Tewksbury, MA), named to the Second Team, placed ninth in 19.09.6 while freshman Kelly Walton (Nahant, MA) joined Bonomo by finishing 12th in 19.17.7.

Freshman Nicole Skotz (Tewksbury, MA) placed 23rd in 19:37.6 to cap UMass Lowell’s scoring effort. Sophomore Katelyn Allen (Marshfield, MA) placed 30th (31st overall) overall in 19:52.4 while freshman Mary Hazen (Framingham, MA) placed 36th/38th in 19:59.4.

Laura Brustolon of Southern Connecticut won the individual title and NE-10 Runner of the Year honors with a time of 18:03.8.

UMass Lowell hosts the NCAA East Region Championship Sunday, Nov. 8 at Franklin Park in Boston.