Nov. 7, 2010

Results | Gardner: 'A step in the right direction' | Veiga: 'Huge PR for me'

Junior Jeff Veiga (Lowell, Mass.) placed second overall and senior Angus MacDonald (Methuen, Mass.) third as UMass Lowell captured the Northeast-10 Conference Men's Cross Country Championship Saturday at Stonehill College.

The title marked the fourth time in five years and seventh time in UMass Lowell's 11-years in the Conference it has captured the NE-10 crown.

Veiga, MacDonald and junior Eric McDonald (Groveland, Mass.) were each named to the Northeast-10 All-Conference First Team for finishing among the top seven places while freshman Chris Estrella (Lowell, Mass.) was named to the Third Team.

UMass Lowell scored 50 points (2, 3, 6, 17, 22 - 32, 35) to defeat 2009 champion Stonehill (74 points/4, 9, 16, 18, 27 - 30, 36). Bentley placed third with 97 points while Southern Connecticut (103) and American International (111) rounded out the top five.

Saint Rose placed sixth with 113 points and was followed by Adelphi (145), New Haven (251), Saint Anselm (302) and Le Moyne (313).

"The goal was to win obviously," said UMass Lowell Head Coach Gary Gardner. "We needed some good runs from our top guys. Jeff ran unbelievable, eight seconds behind the best returning runner in the country. And he almost caught him."

"Our top three ran great and fourth and fifth ran pretty well," Gardner added.

Veiga ran the 8K course in 24 minutes, 20.9 seconds - a pace of 4:53.9 per mile - and placed second behind American International College's Glarius Rop, who repeated as the NE-10 individual champion with a time of 24:12.2.

MacDonald placed third in 24:36.8 while McDonald took sixth in 25:06.4. The finish marked MacDonald's third straight year on the NE-10 First Team while Veiga and McDonald earned places on the first team for the first time.

Veiga was a Third Team recipient in 2008 (he sat out last year) while McDonald earned Third Team honors as a freshman and Second Team last year.

"Cross country seasons are won and lost in July, August and September," Gardner noted. "Jeff, Eric and Angus did everything they needed to do over the summer."

Estrella, running his third-ever cross country meet, placed 17th overall in 25:47.0 while junior Danny Wang (Haverhill, Mass.) placed 22nd in 25:58.5 to cap UMass Lowell's scoring effort.

"Chris and Danny were tough," said Gardner. "At that point of the race you don't know exactly where the score is going. They were a little far back and they ate their way through the pack over the last two miles, which was perfect."

Freshman Steve Fitzsimmons (Methuen, Mass.) placed 32nd overall in 26:21.1 and sophomore Brendan Devlin (Weston, Mass.) placed 36th in 26:29.8.

UMass Lowell hosts the NCAA East Region Championship Sunday, Nov. 21 at Franklin Park in Boston.