RESULTS
 
BOSTON—The UMass Lowell cross country team kicked off its weekend with a quick trip south to take on the 2021 NEICAAA Cross Country Championships at Franklin Park on Saturday afternoon. The crew of 26 runners competed across four events at this year's New England Championships: the Men's Sub Varsity 8K run, the Men's Varsity 8K run, the Women's Sub Varsity 5K run and the Women's Varsity 5K run.
 
"Overall, it was a good day. We used [today's races] to get a few women some good work," commented Head Coach Gary Gardner.
 
The men's crew opened the day with an impressive third-place team finish in the Sub Varsity 8K. Pacing the crew, freshman Nick Melisi (Natick, Mass.) finished 18th overall with a 26:51.9 time in his first collegiate 8K event. Not far behind, sophomore Tyler Sullivan (Walpole, Mass.) rounded up the top 20 in his first collegiate 8K as well, clocking in at 26:55.8 for 20th place. Another notable freshman first came from Andrew Benassi (Reading, Mass.). The distance runner logged a 25th place finish in the 8K off a solid 27:05.9 time.
 
UMass Lowell saw another successful team finish on the men's side in the Varsity 8K, finishing eighth out of 24 teams. Sophomore Jake Velazquez (Keene, N.H.) led the group with a 14th place finish, clocking in at 25:12.6 to set a new personal best. Junior Eoin Dooley (Stoneham, Mass.) saw a personal best of his own at Franklin Park, shaving 45 seconds off his previous personal best to finish in 25:27.0.
 
"Jake ran well considering it was back-to-back weeks," remarked Gardner. "Eoin ran a great finish off the race. Joe and Will also ran much better than last week, which was really encouraging."
 
A trio of River Hawks took on the Sub Varsity 5K for the UMass Lowell women's squad. Freshman Vivian Mac (Randolph, Mass.) and graduate student Nicolet Chapman (Dracut, Mass.) registered their first career 5Ks, finishing in 20:20.6 and 22:34.8 respectively. Junior Leah Rudolph (Gloucester, Mass.) posted a top-100 time in the event, missing her career best by just seconds with a 21:35.3 finish.
 
In the highly competitive Varsity 5K, graduate student Kaley Richards (Lowell, Mass.) led the crew to a 15th place finish. The veteran distance runner earned the top finish for the River Hawks, crossing in 18:00.5 for 13th place. Sophomore Mary Yount (Northhampton, Mass.) and graduate student Amanda Baptiste (Taunton, Mass.) had strong performances in the event as well, finishing in tandem in 19:30.9 and 19:31.2 to clock top-100 times.  
 
"It was great to have Kaley on the course finally. We had her race 90% effort to get ready for next week in Wisconsin," mentioned Gardner.
 
The River Hawks hit the road next weekend, traveling to Madison, Wisc. for the 2021 Nuttycombe Invitational on Friday, Oct. 15.