May 10, 2009

Results

Senior Rex Radloff (Dedham, MA) and the 4X400 meter relay team each captured titles to lead UMass Lowell at the New England Track and Field Championship Friday and Saturday at the University of Massachusetts.

The River Hawks scored 40 points and shared fifth place with Northeast-10 Conference rival Southern Connecticut State. Both UMass Lowell and Southern Connecticut finished tops among Division II and III colleges, with the River Hawks enjoying the best combined men and women’s finish of any Division II or III school.

The University of Rhode Island won the team title with 103 points while the host Minutemen took second with 80 points, followed by the University of Connecticut (61) and New Hampshire (54).

Seven individuals and one relay team earned All-New England status, which was awarded to the top eight places in each event.

Radloff won the 5,000 meters and provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championship with a time of 14:35.60. Freshman Jeff Veiga (Lowell, MA) won the 5,000 meters unseeded section and placed ninth overall in 14:58.40, falling one place short of All-New England honors.

Radloff also provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championship in the 1,500 meters as he placed seventh overall (fourth among Division II-III runners) in 3:53.12. Senior Joey DeWitt (Ellsworth, ME) placed 13th overall (eighth) in 3:55.08.

UMass Lowell’s 4X400 meter relay team completed its sweep of New England this season as it captured its seventh title of the decade in 3:10.90 and automatically qualified for the NCAA Championship. The River Hawk foursome, which also won the 2009 indoor 4X400 relay in 3:13.92, currently ranks 10th in the country.

Junior Doug Caves (Oxford, MA) led off with a 46.7-second leg while freshman Jeff Wundt (Southwick, MA) followed in 47.9 seconds. Junior Robert Liekweg (Salem, MA) ran a 48.2-second split while senior Andrew Grange (Methuen, MA) anchored in 47.3 seconds.

Junior Tim Guerin (Auburn, MA) and junior Steve O’Brien (Groton, MA) placed fourth and fifth (second and third) in the 3,000 meter steeplechase. Guerin ran the course in 9:23.91 while O’Brien was close behind in 9:27.08.

Sophomore Matt Blazon (Lowell, MA) also enjoyed a stellar finish as he took fourth (third) in the 400 meter hurdles in 54.50.

Sophomore Cory Murray (Methuen, MA) took fifth (first) in the shot put with a throw of 49 feet, 4.5 inches to lead UMass Lowell’s field athletes.

A select number of athletes will compete at the IC4A Championship at Princeton next Saturday.