Full Results

BOSTON, Mass. – UMass Lowell freshmen sprinter Michael Blake (Hudson, Mass.) wrote his name into the school record book, Saturday afternoon, as River Hawk men turned in a strong performance at the Track and Tennis Center at the Boston University Multi-Team Meet in Back Bay Boston.

"This is as good as we could have hoped for at this point in the season," according to UMass Lowell Track and Field Head Coach Gary Gardner.  "There was good competition on a good track early in the year.  The kids have been doing the work, now we have to keep moving forward."

Blake won the 300-meters clocking in with a time of 33.82-seconds.  In the process he erased the mark, 34.04, set by Hamza Naveed in 2019.

"He's very fast; he's got good leg speed," said Gardner.  "He could be special down the road."

The 300-meters is an event that is not commonly run at the collegiate level, but is a distance that Blake would typically run at a high school meet.  For the coaching staff the question is how the time translates to the 200 or 400-meters, events that are part of collegiate track championships.  There is according to Gardner no easy answer.

That said, the run was impressive.  Blake finished eight one-hundredths of a second ahead of Boston University's Chiebuka Onwuzurike.

"He's a hard worker and a great kid," said Gardner.  "He's fun to watch and he's the type who is going to be a leader for us."

Blake also posted a couple of strong times in the 60-meter dash.  He finished fifth in the finals with a time of 7.05-seconds after posting the second fastest preliminary time, 6.97-seconds.  It was the third time that he has been under seven-seconds this season.  He ranks fourth on the America East Performance List.

Junior Derek Holmes (Marshfield, Mass.) turned in a personal best in the mile to finish second.  He posted a time of four-minutes, 08.63-seconds, chopping about a second off what had been his personal record.

"He's a really tough kid and a great racer," according to Gardner.  "He's not a speed guy, for Derek it's about endurance and strength."

Holmes is a runner with great range, comfortable running distance from one to five-thousand meters.  He was a key member of the UMass Lowell cross country team.

The mile was a strong event for UMass Lowell men.  Four runners, including Holmes, finished in the top eight.  All four set personal bests.  Senior Liam Kimball (Atkinson, N.H.), 4:10.14, finished fourth.  Senior Christopher Alfond (Ashby, Mass.), 4:10.31, was fifth and sophomore Drew Everett (Amesbury, Mass.), 4:15.15, was eighth.

A trio of River Hawk freshmen finished two, three and four in the 400-meters.  Roan Marcano (Methuen, Mass.), Thomas Jordan (Needham, Mass.) and Hunter Marino (Weymouth, Mass.) were separated 52 one-hundredths of a second posting times of 49.32, 49.55 and 49.84. 

The River Hawks will return to the fast track at Boston University Track and Tennis Center again next weekend for the John Thomas Terrier Classic.  It's an annual event that runs both Friday and Saturday.  They rank four-five-six on the conference Performance List.