Full Results

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – UMass Lowell senior distance runner Paul Hogan (Burlington, Mass.) struggled at the start, but turned in a strong finish on the Tom Sawyer Park 10k course at the NCAA Cross Country National Championship Meet, Saturday morning, in Louisville, Kentucky.

Hogan ran through rain and wind to finish 80th in a field of more than 250 runners.  He completed the course in a time of 30-minutes and 30.4-seconds.  Hogan was a minute and a half behind the first finisher.

Justyn Knight of Syracuse won the individual title.  Northern Arizona won it's second consecutive National Championship.  Portland was second, BYU finished third.  Iona was the top scoring team from the Northeast region; the Gaels finished 12th.

"It was a good solid run," said Head Coach Gary Gardner.  "We're not ecstatic, but we're not unhappy.  Paul ran very tough."

Hogan, who likes to push matters at the start, found himself in a tough position just moments after the gun.  A runner in front of him fell to the ground and by the time Hogan had untangled himself from the traffic jam he'd run only 400-meters and he was 238th.

"That's a tough field to dig yourself out of a hole against," according to Gardner.  "You've got the best distance and middle distance runners in the country there at this one event."

Difficult or not, Hogan stepped it up passing some 150 runners before reaching the finish line.

"Paul showed his mental toughness," said Gardner.  "He fought and fought and fought and ran an incredible race, but it was just too big a hole to dig out of.  We were very pleased with the effort."

Hogan was understandably disappointed, but the race appeared to help build his confidence.  He was already talking with his coaches about next year and how to approach things differently.  Despite being a senior, Hogan does have one more season of cross country eligibility.

"This was a great learning experience for Paul," according to Gardner.  "It was the first time that he was on a stage like this and had to deal with these circumstances.  He's aiming for the top 25 to 30 next year and you can see that he's gained confidence from the experience."

The NCAA Championships bring the cross country season to a close.  There is not a great deal of time off.  The indoor track and field season gets started December 3rd as UMass Lowell will send a team to the Alden Invitational at Brown University.