BOSTON, Mass. (Jan. 25, 2014) – Three school record setting performances highlighted a terrific showing by the UMass Lowell men's track and field team at the John Thomas Terrier Invitational, Saturday, at the Boston University Track and Tennis Center.
 
Junior transfer Robert Allen (Cranston, R. I.), senior Omar Abdi (Charlestown, Mass.) and junior Garrett King (Amesbury, Mass.), all, put their names in the UMass Lowell track and field record book.
 
"This is probably the best day on the track in the history of men's track," said Head Coach Gary Gardner.  "Three school records and several 'personal bests,' that's a hell of a day."
 
Allen started the assault on the indoor record book when he ran a 4-minute, 2.58-second mile.  The time was good enough for 11^th place in a field of 176 competitors and the best ever for a UMass Lowell runner.
 
Allen's run bettered the mark of 4:04.98 set by Angus MacDonald in 2012.
 
"It was the best race he's ever run," said Gardner.  "We came up with a game plan and he followed it to perfection.  When the race was over he told me he could run faster."
 
Gardner believes Allen is capable of running a sub 4-minute mile.
 
"Everything has to work just right, but he's capable of doing it," said Gardner.  "He's extremely fit and really, really, tough and he's not afraid of anybody."
 
UMass Lowell graduate student Drew Butler (The Woodlands, Texas), running unattached, finished the mile in a time of 4:07.52, a personal best.  Butler is eligible during the outdoor season.
 
The performances by Allen and Butler seemed contagious; training partners Abdi and senior David Brown (Chelmsford, Mass.) turned in outstanding performances in the 1,000 meters. 
 
Abdi finished fifth in a school record time of 2:24.37 and Brown crossed the finish line less than a second later, 2:25.06, to grab eighth place.
 
"(The school record) was the goal," said Gardner.  "They both did a great job; they were fired up and ready to roll."
 
Abdi's 2:24.37 knocked Patrick Morasse's 2005 time of 2:24.99 out of the record book.
 
The longest standing record to fall on Saturday was the pole vault.  Mike Shaw set the school record in 2004 when he cleared the bar at 14-feet 9-inches.  King surpassed that and then some with a vault of 15'5".
 
"He's been a work in progress" said Gardner.  "He was a 13 foot vaulter when he arrived here.
 
Noting that King practices, away from the team, during the week at an indoor facility in Bolton, Mass.Gardner points to King's dedication.  "That takes extra dedication, but he's been eyeballing that record for a long time."
 
The meet in Boston attracted colleges and track clubs from across the country.
 
UMass Lowell track and field will be back in action Saturday, February 1^st, at the University of Rhode Island Coaches Invitational in Kingston.  It is an all day affair,