LOWELL, Mass. – The very young UMass Lowell women's cross country team looks to take the next step in its growth and development when it competes with some of the nation's best, Friday afternoon, in Franklin Park in Boston, at the Boston College Coast-to-Coast Invitational.
"Our main goal for the women is to just put them in a really big meet and get them used to running against that level of competition," said UMass Lowell Head Coach Gary Gardner. "You have Florida State and Georgia flying in, you have six or seven of the top 30 teams in the country, so it makes it a different event for a young team."
The event attracts top schools in the region and from across the country. The River Hawk team is built around a large group of freshmen and sophomores. There is just one junior and no seniors on the team that will run in Franklin Park. Freshman Allie Morris (Walpole, Mass.) turned in a strong showing at the America East Preview Meet, but she admits this is different.
"I'm definitely really nervous; I've never run a race with this much competition, it will be very different than what I'm used to," said Morris. "I'm going to need to be mentally tough when the race gets hard and just keep pushing and not settle in."
It is just that sort of thing that the coach is interested in; seeing how the runners react to the competitive environment.
""It's time to throw them in and see what comes out," said Gardner. "Hopefully we'll get some good performances out of it. It's about learning mental toughness and learning not be to intimidated. I'm not sure some of the women will look at Florida State and Georgia and Syracuse and be completely comfortable."
Franklin Park
As a team, UMass Lowell is familiar with the 8K course. It is one the River Hawks run on a yearly basis and often more than once a year. It is also a course many have run on as a high school competitor.
"I want to run a course personal best," said Morris. "It'll be the first time I can see how much I've improved since high school because I ran that course in high school."
Morris also says she likes the course because it has three different loops rather than running the same lopp repeatedly. It's not a fully flat course, but it is less hilly than some courses such as Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx.
The Level of Competition
This is different level of competition than the team has faced in the first two weeks of the season. It is both the high level of competition and the sheer number of competitors that is different from anything the River Hawks have seen this season.
