Bryan Clay Invitational | Pacific Coast Intercollegiate

AZUSA, Cal. – River Hawk senior distance runner Paul Hogan (Burlington, Mass.) knocked a legend out of the UMass Lowell Record Book and in the process appears to have punched his ticket to the NCAA East Regional in a second event.

"Mission accomplished," said UMass Lowell Head Coach Gary Gardner.  "We have Paul qualified (for the NCAA regionals) in both the 5,000 and 10,000-meters, now we just have to go back to work."

Hogan's run in the 5,000-meters highlighted the first day of the UMass Lowell track and field left coast sojourn.  River Hawk athletes, Thursday, competed at both the Pacific Coast Intercollegiate Meet at Long Beach State and the Bryan Clay Invitational hosted by Azusa Pacific University.

Hogan running in the first of eight heats in the 5,000-meters, at the Bryan Clay Invitational, clocked in with a time of 13-minutes, 56.30-seconds.  The time was nine-seconds faster than the school record, 14:05.34, set in 2010 by Ruben Sanca.  Sanca, now a UMass Lowell assistant coach with the team in California, said he "could not have been happier to see Paul write a new record" in the event.

The key this time around was Hogan's ability to summon a strong close.  He'd started quickly, but the pack he was in had slowed a bit in the middle stages of the race.  The River Hawk senior passed five or six runner in the final mile and closed the final 600-meters in a time of 1:31.

"That was a super fast close," according to Gardner.  "He now has the confidence to run with anybody in the country."

And the coach says that confidence is the key.

"He believes in himself," said Gardner.  "I've never seen him more confident after a race.  Closing like that gives you the confidence that you can close like that."

Hogan's time is the best hung up by an America East athlete this season and the seventh fastest in the east region.  There is no specific time or mark that qualifies an individual for the NCAA regional preliminaries.  The top 48 times qualify and Gardner believes Hogan "is a lock" for the NCAA regional.

The west coast trip was designed to give several River Hawks a chance to get NCAA qualifying times and to provide experience for some of the younger competitors.  Hogan was not the only one to turn in a strong performance.

Freshman Benjamin Drezek (Cumberland, R.I.), also at the Bryan Clay Invite, turned in a personal best in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.  His time of 9:09.58 was good for 30th in a field of more than 100 runners.  It was the second fastest steeplechase run this season by an America East athlete and the fifth fastest in UMass Lowell history. 

UMass Lowell also got several strong performances in the 800-meters at Long Beach State.  Senior Kathryn Loughnane (North Attleboro, Mass.) finished fifth in the event posting a time of 2;14.88.  Teammates freshman Emily Sessa (Tewksbury, Mass.) and sophomore Kaley Richards (Lowell, Mass.) each posted personal bests in the event, finishing 10th and 11th.  They finished separated by less than two-tenths of a second putting up times of 2:16.63 and 2:16.78 respectively.

Sophomore Harrison Maloy (Pepperell, Mass.) was his heat in the 800-meters with a time of 1:57.75.  He finished 16th overall.

Competition on the west coast continues on Friday.  Friday will also find River Hawk senior Kerstin Darsney (Rowley, Mass.) competing at the War Eagle Invitational at Auburn.   UMass Lowell will also host the George Davis Invitational on Saturday.