Nov. 17, 2011

Gardner: 'Anything that beats our ranking'

In late August, the expectations for the UMass Lowell men's cross country team were possibly as high as they've been in the program's history.

A week before the Northeast-10 Conference Championship, they came down with a thud.

Two weeks later at the NCAA East Region Championship, they rose again.

"A total 180," said senior Danny Wang (Haverhill, Mass.).

UMass Lowell makes its 12th straight appearance in the NCAA Championship Saturday (3:00 Eastern time) at Plante's Ferry Athletic Complex in Spokane, Wash. The race will be webcast live on www.ncaa.com.

Leading UMass Lowell's seven runners are seniors Wang and Greg Wilson (Chelmsford, Mass.), sophomores Chris Estrella (Lowell, Mass.), Max O'Brien (North Andover, Mass.) and Ben Pare (Methuen, Mass.); and freshmen Matt Cioe (Mansfield, Mass.) and Brendan Adams (Pembroke, Mass.).

This was supposed to be The Year: With a preseason ranking of No. 11 in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA), the River Hawks peaked at No. 9 during the regular season. They were also tabbed to win the NE-10.

Just before the NE-10 Championship, seniors Jeff Veiga (Lowell, Mass.) and Eric McDonald (Groveland, Mass.) succumbed to nagging injuries and declared redshirt seasons.

Veiga won the 2010 NCAA East Region individual title and placed third overall at the 2010 NCAA Championship. McDonald is a two-time All-East Region runner. They were devastating losses.

"When we found out we lost Veiga and Eric, we were pretty down," Wang said. "Me and Greg were probably the most down because we're both seniors. We didn't know what was going to happen. We had a solid top five, and to have a piece of that puzzle be no good anymore, it really raised a lot of questions.

"But when regionals came around and our freshmen and sophomore runners really stepped up, it's been awesome," he added.

UMass Lowell finished third at the NE-10 Championship - its lowest result since it joined the Conference in 2000. Even though it had won nine of the last 11 NCAA East Region titles, simply getting to the NCAAs seemed to be the goal rather than winning the Region.

With two weeks to rest and refocus, UMass Lowell ran what head coach Gary Gardner termed a `perfect race,' and won its 10th East Region title behind Wilson and Wang, but equally in part to its five sophomores and freshmen, who all but one made the All-East Region Team (top 25).

"They didn't want to be the first team in 12 years not to make the NCAA Championship," said Gardner. "We feel like we're playing with house money. There's not a lot of pressure on us. We're going to relax and see what we can accomplish out there."

The course at Plante's Ferry, Gardner said, is flat and fast. "It's still 10,000 meters so you still have to run with some patience. Hopefully that's what we'll do."

With Veiga and McDonald in the lineup, UMass Lowell would've been a safe bet for a top 10 showing. But with its youth, Gardner is realistic.

Pare, O'Brien, Cioe and Adams are getting their first dose of an NCAA Championship. The experience will undoubtedly bode well for them in future years.

"I'm looking for anything that beats our ranking," said Gardner. "I think we're 17th in the country. If we can finish 15th or above, we would be really pleased."