LOWELL, Mass. – Competing for the first time since the new year, the UMass Lowell men's track and field team collected multiple top performances on Saturday at the Ice Breaker Invitational hosted by Suffolk University at the TRACK at new balance. 

"It was a quality return from a long layoff," said head coach Gary Gardner. "It's clear the kids did their work over break, which is always a great feeling as a coach. We had several outstanding performances early in the season which set us up for a great winter." 

Sophomore Luke Stelmach (Sterling, Mass.) earned the victory in the 60-meter hurdles, finishing with a time of 8.86 and junior Zachary Lalonde (Tewksbury, Mass.) finished just .02 seconds behind him in second place. Freshman Tristan O'Riorden was the third-place finisher with a time of 9.01, while freshman Derek Munroe (Tewksbury, Mass.) came in sixth place with a 10.28 mark. 

In the 200-meter dash, graduate student Joseph Gaudreau (Wilmington, Mass.) picked up another first-place finish for the River Hawks, coming in with a time of 22.10. Senior Hunter Marino (Weymouth, Mass.) was just behind him in second, earning a time of 22.29. Junior Adam Katerji (Shrewsbury, Mass.) (22.50), senior Sean Glass (Haverhill, Mass.) (22.51) and graduate student Kashief Bogannam (Kingston, N.H.) (22.62) finished consecutively in fifth, sixth and seventh as well. 

The success continued in the 1,000-meter run as five runners finished in the top 10. Graduate student Daniel Cosgrove (Boxford, Mass.) was the first River Hawk to cross the finish line in second place with a time of 2:25.77. Freshman Jonathan Stock picked up a fifth-place finish with a time of 2:28.24 while junior Tanner Jellison (Wakefield, Mass.) finished in seventh place with a 2:30.46 mark. Junior Paul Neilan (2:31.30) and freshman Sean Kennedy-Wonneberger (East Haddam, Conn.) (2:33.73) rounded out the top 10 with eighth and 10th-place finishes respectively.

Senior Thomas Jordan (Needham, Mass.) was the second-place finisher in the 400-meter, coming in with a time of 49.54. Freshman Basit Iddris (Milford, Mass.) (50.83), junior Rodrigo Freitas (Billerica, Mass.) (51.03) and graduate student Sean O'Neill (New Egypt, N.J.) (51.06) finished consecutively in eighth-10th place as well.

The River Hawks owned the top 10 of the mile run with seven runners. Freshman Hatim Boukhtam (Abington, Mass.) (4:15.18), sophomore Wouter Van Den Akker (Groningen, Netherlands) (4:16.50), sophomore Nate DeAngelo (Bristol, Conn.) (4:16.88), senior William Cole-French (Hanoi, Vietnam) (4:17.38) and senior Jeffrey Allen (Litchfield, N.H.) (4:17.98) all finished consecutively from third-seventh place respectively. Sophomore Landen Vaillancourt (New Ipswich, N.H.) and graduate student Christopher McCauliff (Lunenburg, Mass.) also finished back-to-back in ninth and 10th place to round out the top ten. Vaillancourt finished with a time of 4:19.27 while McCauliff earned a 4:19.48 mark. 

In the 60-meter dash, junior Aras Kaya (Winchester, Mass.) was the top River Hawk in third place with a time of 7.12 as Glass followed him by just .01 seconds for fourth. In fifth place by just .03 seconds was Jordan (7.16) while Marino finished in seventh place with a time of 7.31. 

Junior Hunter Marion (Templeton, Mass.) came in third in the 3,000-meter run for the River Hawks, leading the way with a time of 8:29.75. Graduate student Joseph Walsh (Auburn, Mass.) earned fifth place with a time of 8:33.10, while sophomore William Benoit (Fairhaven, Mass.) finished in eighth with a time of 8:40.14 and sophomore Jonathan D'Ambrosio (Wakefield, Mass.) earned 10th place honors with a 8:55.72 mark. 

Some of the men's squad also ran alongside their women River Hawk counterparts in the mixed 1,600-meter relay. Gaudreau and Bogannam were part of the first-place winning group (3:36.33), while Iddris and O'Neill finished in third place with their group (3:44.91). Sophomore Ben Ayotte (Salisbury, Mass.) and senior Ryan Casebolt's (Boxborough, Mass.) group finished just behind them to finish in fourth (3:45.92) while freshman Michael Soucy (Methuen, Mass.) and junior Daniel Cuddy (Hudson, Mass.) earned sixth place with their group (3:49.76). Munroe and Stelmach followed them in seventh place (3:56.05).

Senior Samuel Toolin (North Kingstown, R.I.) and freshman Mamadu Tchamo (Brockton, Mass.) competed in the 800-meter run, finishing in seventh and 10th place respectively. Toolin earned a time of 1:58.35 and Tchamo came in at 1:59.10. 

In the field events, the River Hawks also found success. Junior Michael Makiej (Andover, Mass.) won the high jump event with a 1.95-meter jump. Stelmach and junior Thomas Neary (Littleton, Mass.) both jumped to 1.90m to share second place while Chris McDowell (1.90m) and Monroe (1.70m) finished in fourth and fifth place respectively. 

The pole vaulting duo of juniors Maxwell Davis (Stoneham, Mass.) and Cuddy both reached 4.20m for second place honors. In the shot put, junior Luis Cadime (Lowell, Mass.) was the top River Hawk, finishing in fifth place with a throw of 14.78m, while sophomore Ian Camerato (Mount Laurel, N.J.) finished in tenth place with a distance of 12.61m. Camerato also finished in 10th place in the weight throw with a 12.26-meter throw. Freshman Peter Gardikas also competed, throwing 11.20 meters for 13th place. 

The River Hawks will travel to Boston University next to compete in the Battle in Beantown on Saturday, January 21.