MEN'S RESULTS | WOMEN'S RESULTS

BOSTON—After sweeping the conference title once again, the UMass Lowell men's cross country team battled soggy conditions to turn in a sixth-place team finish at the 2021 NCAA East Regional at Franklin Park Friday afternoon.
 
With 155 points, the River Hawks narrowly missed the top-five, coming just 18 points shy of fifth-place Columbia. Taking the top spot, Syracuse earned the title with 51 points. The Orange was followed by Harvard (68) in second and Iona (77) in third.
 
"The men who made it to the finish ran well," commented Head Coach Gary Gardner.
 
Leading the pack, graduate student Kyle Cloutier (Lancaster, Mass.) maintained a 4:58 pace to finish 15th overall off a 30:51 time in the highly competitive field. Not far behind, senior Drew Everett (Amesbury, Mass.) finished in 30:49.8 for 22nd place.
 
Junior John Riley (Quincy, Mass.) pulled out all the stops in his first-ever collegiate 10K, sending in a 29th place finish with a final time of 31:15.6. Graduate student Christopher Alfond (Ashby, Mass.) crossed hot on Riley's heels, clocking in at 31:26.5 to finish 36th.
 
Rounding out scoring for UMass Lowell, sophomore Jake Velazquez (Keene, N.H.) hit a 31:51.8 pace to place 54th in his first collegiate 10K attempt.
 
"Jake really came through as our fifth guy in a pressure situation," remarked Gardner.
 
The River Hawks now await individual announcements for the 2021 NCAA Championships on Nov. 20, 2021, at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee, Fla.