May 27, 2010

Day One Results

Graduate Ruben Sanca (Boston, MA) placed fifth in the 10,000 meters to earn All-American honors and senior Doug Caves (Oxford, MA) marched on to the final in the 400 meter dash Thursday night at the NCAA Division II Track and Field Championship at Johnson C. Smith University's Irwin Belk Complex.

Seeded 11th, Sanca ran the 10,000 meters in 30 minutes, 21.26 seconds to reach All-American status for the third time in his career.

The top eight finishers in each event earn All-American honors.

The race marked only the second time Sanca had ever competed in the 10,000 meters, other than hitting the NCAA qualifier (29:49.48) at the Walt Disney World Invitational on Mar. 20.

"For his inexperience in this distance, Ruben ran as well as you can possibly expect," said UML Head Coach Gary Gardner. "He was actually in the lead group with about 1,200 meters to go, then things started to break up. There were times where runners made moves and he covered them right away.

"Ruben was in it to win it for the last three minutes of the race. He did a great job."

Amos Sang of Abilene Christian won the 10,000 meters in 30:04.98.

Sanca is seeded seventh in the 5,000 meters and runs the preliminary race Friday at 8:35 p.m. The final is scheduled for Saturday at 9:03 p.m.

Seeded eighth in the 400 meter dash, Caves placed seventh in the preliminary in 46.23 seconds, besting his own school record of 46.49 set in 2007.

Caves also qualified for the U.S. Track and Field Championship June 23-27 in Des Moines, IA.

"We could see this coming. Between what he did at New Englands (champion in 46.76) and his workouts the last two weeks were the best he's ever had," said Gardner. "And he did it from lane two, which is a difficult lane to have due to the curvature. His split at 200 meters was 21.3 and that's as fast as he's ever gone out."

A seven-time All-American - including twice in the outdoor 400 meters - Caves is one of eight athletes to move on to the final (Saturday at 6:54), solidifying All-American status.

Josh Scott of St. Augustine's won the preliminary in 45.72 seconds.

Senior Tim Guerin (Auburn, MA), who spent the majority of the season battling mononucleosis and anemia, struggled in the 3,000 meter steeplechase preliminary, finishing 17th in 9:49.78.

"We know that coming off mono and anemia, we were trying to catch lightning in a bottle with Timmy," Gardner said. "The way he opened up the year we thought he'd be around 8:45, but then he got sick. He's had a strong couple of weeks and a great career, but just didn't get back to 100 percent.

"In a meet like this if you're not 100 percent in a meet like this, you're in trouble," he added.

The NCAAs continue Friday as senior Jacqui Barrett (Woburn, MA), seeded No. 1 in the shot put, competes at 6:30 p.m., and is followed by senior Haley Catarius (Marshfield, MA) in the 800 meters at 6:40.

After Sanca runs the 5,000 meters preliminary at 8:35, Catarius leads UMass Lowell's 4X400 meter relay team in the preliminary at 9:10.