ORONO, Maine  –  Freshman Paul Hogan (Burlington, Mass.) ran to a second place finish to highlight a strong performance by a series of UMass Lowell freshmen in the America East Cross Country Pre-Conference Meet, Saturday, on the campus of the University of Maine in Orono.

"I thought they ran great," said UMass Lowell Cross Country Head Coach Gary Gardner.  "For freshmen to run that well in their first 8K race, I was really, really pleased.  It was in the 80s and it was muggy, the conditions were not the best and it was the longest race of their lives."

Teams from four America East schools participated in the event but it was scored as a series of dual meets. UMass Lowell defeated Maine, 15-50, lost to New Hampshire, 23-32, and fell one point short against Vermont, 27-28.  The River Hawks and several others teams kept their most experienced runners out of the competition.

Hogan crossed the finish line in a time of 26-minutes 17.38 seconds.  He was the first of five River Hawk freshmen to finish in the top 18.  It was a strong performance from a freshman who, on the track, had the fastest two-mile time in the country among high schoolers as a senior.

"He ran a controlled race, he ran a smart race," said Gardner.  "He wanted to go after the leader right from the start."

The freshmen, as a group, were terrific; everyone hit their pre-race goal.  Thomas Teachen (Titusville, N.J.) finished eighth in a time of 26:51.08, Randy Nong (Lowell, Mass.) crossed the finish line five seconds later with a time of 26:56.84, good enough for tenth place.  Freshmen Drew Fossa (Peabody, Mass.) and Dhahran Velasquez (New Britain, Conn.) finished eight seconds apart for 13th and 17th respectively in times of 27:04.12 and 27:12.21.

"It was a longer race than they'd ever run before and they have to learn to fight through the pain and they did that," said Gardner.  "All of them finished well, they were passing other runners at the end."

Graduate student Zach Nelson (Knox, N.Y.) turned in a solid showing.  Nelson finished 12th overall, fourth among UMass Lowell runners, with a time of 27:02.74.  "He has experience," said Gardner, "and that makes a difference.  He showed leadership."

UMass Lowell will return to action Saturday, September 13th, at the Dartmouth Invitational in Hanover, N.H.