ST. ALBANS, Vt. – The UMass Lowell men's cross country team performed well in their season debut on Saturday afternoon at the Vermont Invitational in St. Albans, Vt.

"Overall, we are pleased with both teams," said Head Coach Gary Gardner. "We used today to give our more inexperienced team members a chance to compete."

Junior Timothy Brigham (Holden, Mass.) led the group of 10 River Hawk runners in the 8K with a 10th-place finish and 26:43.90 mark. Sophomore Joshua Rivers (Manchester, N.H.) was just behind him in 15th place with a time of 27:19.00. 

A pair of freshmen, Ryan Taylor (Egg Harbor, N.J.) and Nicholas Marcotte (Hudson, N.H.), impressed in their first collegiate race, finishing consecutively in 18th and 19th place, respectively, with times of 27:29.00 and 27:35.50. Sophomore Daniel Burns (Billerica, Mass.) finished directly behind Marcotte in 20th place with a time of 28:00.70, while freshman Nicolas Uzzo (East Bridgewater, Mass.) made it four River Hawks in a row, finishing in 21st with a 28:06.60 mark. 

In 24th and 25th place, another pair of River Hawks finished back-to-back in sophomore Nevan Kelley (Grafton, Mass.) and freshman Dean Allen (Chelmsford, Mass). Kelley came in at 28:19.80, while Allen crossed at 28:22.70. Freshman David McKinnon (Bloomsbury, N.J.) was not far behind, finishing in 27th place with a time of 28:26.90 and freshman Seyha Rath (Lowell, Mass.) rounded off the River Hawk runners with a 33rd-place finish and a 29:59.70 mark. 

"Tim Brigham had his best race at Lowell and the entire freshmen group really pushed themselves, which will pay off down the road," said Gardner.

The River Hawks return to action on Saturday, September 16 when they travel to North Dartmouth, Mass. for the UMass Dartmouth Invitational.