Live Results | Gardner Interview

LOWELL, Mass. – Things begin to get a bit more serious for the UMass Lowell cross country teams, Friday in Franklin Park in Boston, at the Coast to Coast Battle in Beantown hosted by Boston College.

"This is the first test for the year," according to UMass Lowell Cross Country Head Coach Gary Gardner.  "We've done a lot of work since we got here several weeks ago.  This is a test for the people who will carry us through the year."

The Coast to Coast Invitational is the first of three measuring sticks as the teams work their way toward a series of championship events that wrap up the season.  Friday's meet includes teams like Arkansas, Eastern Michigan, Georgia Tech, Syracuse, Wake Forest and Washington that UMass Lowell rarely runs against during the regular season.  The River Hawks are one of five America East schools that have sent teams to Franklin Park.  Twenty-four different schools will be represented.

"It the best meet in New England this year, the best meet in the country this weekend and it's just 35 minutes from our campus," said Gardner.  "There are a couple of top-five teams in the country so we'll have a better idea of where we stand after Friday."

UMass Lowell has been a regular at the meet in recent years, but finding success has been challenging.

"Historically we haven't run great," according to Gardner.  "It's not a meet that we've excelled at.  A year ago we didn't run a good team race until the end of October.  We're more mature and I'm hoping we can start off a little stronger than we did last year and still finish up the way we did last year when our two best races were our last two races."

The meet will also be the first test for the depth the coaching staff has been working to build.  

"On the women's side we really have a ton of talent," according to Gardner.  "It's just really really young.  We're probably a year away from having a really good women's team.  On the men's side this is probably as deep a team as we have ever been.  It will be interesting to see where they all fit in."

"It's just one step," Gardner continued.  "Some of them will have a good day, some of them will have as bad day, but it's not going to change what we're going to do here for the next month."

Gardner wants to see how the teams compete in a strong field.  He'd like to see the men finish somewhere in the top ten.

"I want to see who we are competitive with," said Gardner.  "There are ten or twelve very good teams at this meet.  If we're in the top ten that would be a successful debut.  On the women's side I want to get our kids some experience and see where we are."

"Experience" is something both the men's and women's teams need.  Senior Christopher Alfond (Ashby, Mass.) has experience, but was sidelined a year ago by injury.  He has not run cross country since 2017.  For many it's the first real race of the year.

"The first race is always different," according to Gardner.  "Being uncomfortable for 24 or 25-minutes is a lot different than what they are used to on the track.  Derek (Holmes) is used to being uncomfortable for three minutes or 14-minutes now it's a matter of being uncomfortable for 25-minutes."

The Franklin Park course is one the River Hawks are familiar with.  They have competed there before, some have also run there as high school athletes.  Gardner says the course is great for spectators, giving fans several opportunities to see the runners pass by.  The coach describes the course by saying "it's got some ups, it's got some downs, some woods, some paths and some fields, it's not easy, it's not hard.  It's a fair course."

UMass Lowell will also send men's and women's teams to the 47th Annual UMass Dartmouth Invitational on Saturday.  Those teams will consist of mainly freshmen.  Gardner says it's a matter of giving the younger runners some experience.

"You don't want to throw them into the deep end of the pool just yet," said Gardner.  "We want to break them in a little bit slower."

Friday the women's 5k will get started at 3:00pm, the men run an 8k at 3:30pm.  Saturday at UMass Dartmouth the men's race starts at 11:15am and the women hit the course at noon.