Feb. 1, 2009

Sophomore Angus MacDonald (Methuen, MA) won the 1,000 meters to lead the UMass Lowell men’s track and field team at the Reebok Indoor Games Friday at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center.

The River Hawks placed sixth in the 13-team field, which drew teams from all three NCAA divisions from the Northeast, with 55 points. Northeastern, which hosted the event, won the team title with 118 points and was followed by UMass Amherst (83.50), Stonehill (66), Vermont (59) and Maine (58.5).

MacDonald captured the 1,000 meters in 2:31.46, edging Matt Whalen of Central Connecticut, who placed second in 2:32.44.

Also impressing was UMass Lowell’s 4X400 meter relay team which placed first in 3:17.09. Junior Doug Caves (Oxford, MA) led off with a 48.3-second leg while sophomore Donte Brown (Brockton, MA) was right behind in 48.2. Sophomore Sam Bastien (Canton, MA) ran his split in 50.6 seconds while senior Andrew Grange (Methuen, MA) anchored in 49.6.

UMass Lowell also took second in the distance medley relay, posting a time of 10:33.41. Freshman Danny Wang (Haverhill, MA) ran the 1,000 meters in 3:12 while freshman Jeff Wundt (Southwick, MA) ran the 400 meter dash in 50.5 seconds. Freshman Eric McDonald (Groveland, MA) ran the 800 meters in 1:59.8 while junior Tim Guerin (Auburn, MA) anchored in the mile in 4:30.1.

Guerin and McDonald were dual scorers on the day. Guerin also placed seventh overall (first among Division II-III runners) in the open mile with a time of 4:22.73, while McDonald took eighth (third) in the open 800 meters in 1:58.08.

Sophomore Matt Blazon (Lowell, MA) placed second overall (first) in the 55 meter hurdles in 7.83 seconds, down from his preliminary time of 8.03 seconds. Freshman Giovanni Frias (Lawrence, MA) placed sixth (third) in 8.27, down from 8.34 seconds in the preliminary.

Sophomore Cory Murray (Methuen, MA) topped the Division II-III field in the shot put with a distance of 48 feet, 2.75 inches, just behind Jonathan Medeiros of Holy Cross (49’ 3.0’’) and Nate Hunter of Northeastern (57’ 11.25’’).

Freshman Shaddi Ali (Stoneham, MA) and junior William Nguidjoi (Lawrence, MA) were among scorers in the jumps. Ali cleared 6’ 4.0’’ in the high jump to place fourth while Frias took seventh, also clearing 6’ 4.0’’, but on more chances.

Nguidjoi placed eighth in the triple jump with a distance of 43’ 7.25’’.

UMass Lowell enters the Tufts Jumbo Invitational next Saturday.