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BOSTON, Mass.  –  Freshman Marcus Duncan (Dalton, Mass.) impressed with a victory in the 500 meters as the UMass Lowell Men's Track and Field team turned in a solid showing at the Jay Carisella Invitational hosted by Northeastern University at the Reggie Lewis Center, Saturday evening, in Boston.

"This is a chance to get the kinks out," said UMass Lowell Track and Field Head Coach Gary Gardner.  "They are getting their feet wet and working on their timing.  We were very pleased everybody seemed to have a good day.  We wanted to see progress and we saw progress."

UMass Lowell made the trip into Boston with less than a full team; several River Hawks stayed behind  to take or prepare for final exams.

Duncan won the 500 meters by more than a half second over the rest of the field.  The freshman competing only for the second time on an indoor track took the lead just before the halfway point in the race and never let up.  He finished in a time of one-minute 4.66-seconds.

"He's really raw, but really wants to be good," said Gardner.  "He has really strong endurance for a sprinter and has opened the season as fast as anybody ever has for us."

The coach has been impressed with the way Duncan has handled both the workload and the competition.

"He has the tools and is a competitor," said Gardner, "and he has handled all the work that we have given him."

UMass Lowell also got another big performance out of senior Tunde Ogunleye (Fitchburg, Mass.)  Ogunleye finished second in the 400 meters missing the top prize by just two-one hundredths of a second.  Ogunleye hit the finish line in a time of 48.82.

"That's a really fast time for this early in the year," said Gardner.  "He's not easy to run against because he has no fear.  You can see when he's hurting, when he's fighting the pain, but he never gives up."

Sophomore Kevin Powers grabbed a third place finish in the 1,000 meters.  He hit the finish line in a time of 2:32.95.  River Hawk teammates also claimed the next three finishing spots.  Freshman Daniel Schmidt (Bellingham, Mass.), junior William Donlon (Stoneham, Mass.) and sophomore Michael Kalenoski (Lowell, Mass.) took fourth, fifth and sixth place.

A couple of performances highlighted the field competition.

Sophomore John Fiorello (Tewksbury, Mass.) earned a third place finish in the shot put with a throw of  51-feet 7 3/4-inches.

Freshman Rino Tonelli (Shrewsbury, Mass.) set a personal best in the high jump clearing the bar at 6-feet 6 1/2-inches.  It was good enough for a sixth place finish.

The River Hawks get an extended break for final exams and the winter holidays.  It will be nearly a month before the track and field team returns to competition on January 11th at the Dartmouth Relays.