Live Stats | Live Video | Championship Central

LOWELL, Mass. – For the UMass Lowell track and field teams this weekend is not about times or heights or marks, it is about competitiveness as the teams chase a championships at the two-day America East Indoor Track and Field Championships at the Track and Tennis Center at Boston University.

"It's about going out there are beating people," said UMass Lowell Track and Field Head Coach Gary Gardner.  "It's about competing.  It's not about times, it's about beating as many people as you can.  It's about how competitive you are when the chips are down, how competitive you are when everything is on the line, when it's for a championship."

The nine-team championships take place Friday and Saturday.  Preliminaries and some finals are scheduled for Friday.  All of Saturday's events will be finals.

On both the men's and women's side of the ledger Albany is the defending champion.  The women have won seven straight and nine of the last ten.  The Albany men's team have won 13 of 14 team titles, but it was UMass Lowell that, two years ago, ended the Great Danes' 12 year run.  The River Hawks finished second a year ago and a rivalry has begun to develop between the two programs.

"It's a healthy rivalry," said Gardner.  "They're a good team; they are well coached and well financed.  They watch us and we watch them.  Both programs try to be aware of what the other is doing."

UMass Lowell men hope to challenge Albany's title defense, but Gardner admits that "everything has to go right."  The women are likely in the battle for one of the top three or four spots.  The women's team depth has been thinned by injury and by the number of athletes who are red shirting.

Depth is a key in a championship meet where winning an event may be important but having multiple people score in a single event may provide to be more valuable.

"There are a series of events where we can two or more people score points," said Gardner talking about the men's team.  "This team may be as deep as we have ever been.  We've never had as many potential scorers as we have now."

Teams are limited to 38 athletes.  Figuring out who the 38 are has not been easy, there are many things to consider; from performance to event flexibility.  

"The decisions are extremely difficult," according to Gardner.  "The last kid we picked last year scored.  We go back and forth on it because you worry that you're leaving potential scorers sitting at home."

The River Hawks head into the weekend with the top seeded athletes in a variety of events on both sides of the ledger.

Senior Kaley Richards (Lowell, Mass.) is the top seed in both the 1,000-meters and the mile run.  During the season she has set the school record in both events and also established a new school record in the 3,000-meters.

Sophomore Avery Leydon (Woburn, Mass.) is the top seed in the 500-meters.  

Senior Danielle Poublon (Nashua, N.H.) topped the America East Performance List in the high jump.  She is listed as the number two seed in the event.  She is also expected to compete in the pentathlon, a five event competition.

On the men's side UMass Lowell has the top seed in six different events.  

Sophomore Kashief Bogannam (Kingston, N.H.) is the top seed in the 400-meters.  

Middle and distance events have proven to be a River Hawk strength in recent years and the seedings suggest that is still the case.  Junior Cody Moran (Weymouth, Mass.) tops the list in the 800-meters.  Senior Grant Hauver (Holden, Mass.) has the number one time in the 1,000-meters.  Junior Derek Holmes (Marshfield, Mass.) and Christopher Alfond (Ashby Mass.) are the top seed, respectively, in the two longest events on the track; the 3,000 and the 5,000-meters.

The Track and Tennis Center where the two-day competition takes place is a familiar venue for UMass Lowell.  This will be the fifth time this season that the River Hawks have competed there.

"It feels like a home meet," says Gardner.  "We have a good fan base and it's comfortable for our fans and our kids."

The America East Indoor Track and Field Championships get underway on Friday with a series of preliminaries and a small group of finals.  The championships continue with a full day of finals on Saturday.  For the River Hawks, the key on Friday is to get as many people through to Saturday as possible.