Sept. 3, 2011
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Ruben Sanca, who starred for the UMass Lowell cross country and track and field teams from 2006-10, will represent his native Cape Verde Islands in the marathon Sunday at the IAAF World Track & Field Championships in Daegu, South Korea.
The IAAF marathon is slated for Sunday morning at 9:00 a.m. local time, and Saturday evening at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The marathon can be viewed online for $2.99 at the Universal Sports website or on the NBC Universal Sports television network (subject to cable system availability).
The likely marathoner to represent Cape Verde in the London 2012 Olympics, the IAAF World Track & Field Championship is Sanca’s latest attempt to meet the Olympic qualifying time of 2 hours, 18 minutes.
His last attempt came on Apr. 10 in the ABN Rotterdam Marathon, where he finished 18th overall in 2:18.47, a mere 47 seconds over the qualifying mark.
“Our immediate goal is to get experience at that level,” said UMass Lowell head coach Gary Gardner, who traveled to Daegu, South Korea on Wednesday. “Ruben plans on doing this for at least four more years, and to be a pro through 2016. This is the first attempt at this level. We hope it’s a good dress rehearsal for the Olympics next year.”
“Our goal is to run a smart race and finish among the top 30,” Gardner added. With Sanca’s result at the Rotterdam marathon – ironically his first-ever attempt at a marathon – he set the Cape Verde Islands record.
“The CVI athletics association has been in discussions with Ruben and they have told him that they don’t have a better distance runner,” Gardner said. “He is their national record holder in the marathon. I cannot imagine they’re going to pick anyone (for London 2012) over him.”
Sanca immigrated from the Cape Verde Islands when he was 12 and has resided in Boston ever since. He has represented CVI once before at the 2009 Lusophone Games in Lisbon, Portugal (the Olympics of sorts for Portuguese-speaking nations). He won the 10K in 31:16 and placed fifth in the 1,500 meters in 3:55.
A four-time All-American, Sanca graduated from UMass Lowell in 2009 and earned his MBA in 2010. He was named the recipient of UMass Lowell’s highest athletic honor, the David J. Boutin Award for Male Athlete of the Year, in 2008 and 2009.
