BOSTON—The UMass Lowell cross country team took to Franklin Park in Boston on Saturday afternoon for the 2022 New England Cross Country Championships, compiling several top-50 performances on both the men's and women's sides.
 
"It was a solid day for the team," said Head Coach Gary Gardner. "Today was a great season debut for Caroline. She's going to be a big part of the team at conference and NCAA Regionals. Her opening the season so well makes our team much deeper."
 
Graduate student Caroline O'Shea (Nashua, N.H.) shone in her season debut with a tenth-place finish in the women's Varsity 5K. Sustaining a 5:59 pace, the New Hampshire native crossed in 18:35 for UMass Lowell's top finish.
 
"I think the small group we had today raced well, and it was a perfect fall day for cross country," commented O'Shea following the meet.
 
Joining O'Shea, senior Allison Anusauskas (Auburn, Mass.) and junior Hannah Doherty (Billerica, Mass.) excelled on the course this afternoon. Anusauskas posted the second-fastest time for the River Hawks, clocking a 19:00.0 finish to take 27th overall. She was joined less than 30 seconds later by her teammate Doherty, who took 50th with a 19:26.0 time.
 
"It was a season opener for a few of us, and the results me excited for what we can accomplish as a team at the end of October," remarked O'Shea.
 
The men's crew saw similar success off strong outings from seniors William Cole-French (Hanoi, Vietnam) and Samuel Toolin (North Kingstown, R.I.) in the men's Varsity 8K.
 
"Will and Sam making their 8K debuts this season was encouraging. We're looking forward to seeing what they can run over 5K in a few weeks at Central Connecticut," noted Gardner.
 
Cole-French and Toolin stayed neck-and-neck throughout the lengthy race, keeping their stride at a 5:13 pace. In the final push, Cole-French managed to squeak out a two-second lead over Toolin as he crossed just seconds ahead of his teammates in 25:51 for 34th overall. Toolin finished just two seconds later in 25:53 to end his day in 36th place.
 
"It was a good place to open my season. It was my home course in high school, so being able to return was an awesome experience for me, especially since my family and friends could make it," said Cole-French following the men's event. "I worked well with my teammates today and was able to pass a lot of people in that last half of the race. Overall, it was a good day with the guys working together to push each other throughout the race."
 
Next week, the River Hawks continue their postseason preparations at the IC4A/ECAC Cross Country Championships at Van Cortlandt Park in New York, N.Y.