BOSTON, Mass. – The majority of the UMass Lowell men's indoor track and field team opened up their seasons Saturday, as the squad competed at both the New Balance Early Bird Invitational at the TRACK at new balance and BU Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener at the Track and Tennis Center at Boston University.

"We are really pleased with where we are starting the season off this year," said Associate Head Coach Ally Waruch. "We are always hopeful when a lot of athletes can match or improve on where they were at this time last year. It was great to see a lot of the freshman performing quite well in their first collegiate meet."

The men's 60m hurdles jump started the Early Bird Invitational, with junior Tristan O'Riorden and sophomore Nidlaire Olivier qualifying for the finals and placing fourth and fifth, respectively. O'Riorden earned a time of 8.47, while Olivier was just behind him with an 8.65 mark. Four River Hawks earned a spot in the 60m dash finals in graduate student Aras Kaya (Winchester, Mass.), graduate student Baijeon Bookal, sophomore Evan Imasogie (Lowell, Mass.) and sophomore Daniel Kennedy (Tolland, Conn.). Three went on to race in the finals, with Kaya leading the team with a second-place finish and 6.97 mark. Bookal was next with a time of 7.01 in fifth, while Imasogie took seventh with a 7.07 mark.

Senior TJ Glowik (Danvers, Mass.) was the lone finisher in the mile, claiming 28^th place with a time of 4:35.70, while a group of five took part in the 400m dash. Freshman Michael Fisher (Wallingford, Conn.) led the team in his first collegiate race, earning fifth place honors with a time of 49.41. Senior Alejandro Lynch was not far behind in sixth place, earning a time of 49.83. Junior Bradley Diaz made it three River Hawks in a row in seventh place, picking up a 49.94 mark. Sophomore Brett Earle (Baldwinville, Mass.) was next in nith with a time of 50.94, while sophomore Willem Eisl (Princeton, Mass.) claimed 13^th with a time of 54.14.

Junior Basit Iddriss (1:56.53) picked up a victory in the 800m run, zooming to a 1:56.53 mark. Sophomore Pedro Mayol (Lincoln, R.I.) took home fourth place with a time of 1:58.26 to round out the 800m participants.

In the 200m dash, six River Hawks crossed the finish line, with O'Riorden leading the way with a 22.10 mark for fourth place. Freshman Dmitrius Shearrion (Taunton, Mass.) finished close by in sixth with a time of 22.30, before freshman Anthony Massari (Dumont, N.J.) claimed eighth place with a 22.35 mark and fellow freshman Michael Gyimah (Kumasi, Ghana) finished in 14^th with a time of 22.54. Freshmen Liam O'Keefe (Trumbull, Conn.) and Cyprian Ojatabu (Ojoto, Nigeria) finished in 21^st and 22^nd place, respectively with times of 22.93 and 22.95.

Freshman Jack Courtney led the way in the 3,000m run, claiming fifth place in his first meet with a time of 8:38.42. Sophomore Seyha Rath (Lowell, Mass.) finished in 21^st with a time of 9:06.38, while sophomore Nicolas Uzzo (East Bridgewater, Mass.) claimed 23^rd with a 9:06.83 mark. Graduate student Paul Neilan was the lone representative in the 5,000m run, taking home 18^th place with a time of 15:08.23.

In the field events, junior Peter Gardikas (Peabody, Mass.) finished in 10^th place with a toss of 12.23m, while freshman Joaquin Baldonado (West Haven, Conn.) took 16^th with a 10.95m toss. In the long jump, graduate student Brandon Williams (Severn, Md.) led the way in his first meet as a River Hawk, claiming eighth place with a 6.56m mark. Sophomore Kuzey Kaya (Winchester, Mass.) and senior Ben Ayotte (Salisbury, Mass.) finished consecutively in 22^nd and 23^rd place with marks of 6.07m and 6.05m.

The high jumpers performed well, as freshman Camren Allain (Carver, Mass.) finished in second place I his first meet with a 1.92m. Sophomore Shane Exilhomme (Orlando, Florida) cleared 1.92m for fourth place, while senior Luke Stelmach (Sterling, Mass.) took 11^th with a 1.77m leap and sophomore Brandon Riley (Weymouth, Mass.) finished in 14^th with a 1.77m mark. Both Riley and Stelmach broke school records in the heptathlon yesterday at the UConn Husky Challenge.  

Graduate student Daniel Cuddy (Hudson, Mass.) led the way in the pole vault, finishing tied for fourth with a mark of 4.10m, while freshman Sawyer O'Riorden (Stow, Mass.) finished in seventh place with a 3.95m mark. The shot put featured five River Hawks, with senior Ian Camerato (Mount Laurel, N.J.) leading the way in second with a toss of 14.53m. Junior Derek Munroe (Tewksbury, Mass.) finished in sixth with a 13.73m mark, before junior Mukanya Kazadi (Woburn, Mass.) claimed ninth with a 12.91m mark. Freshman Yoan Terzyiski (Walpole, Mass.) and Baldonado finished in 18^th and 19^th place, resepcticely, with tosses of 11.22m and 11.12m. The triple jump closed out the Early Bird Invitational, with Williams taking fourth place with a 13.49m jump and freshman Jack Shepherd finishing in seventh with a 13.09m mark.

At BU, senior Graham Stedfast (Rowley, Mass.) kicked it off in the mile, taking home 39^th place with a time of 4:13.31. Three men competed in the 3,000m run, with freshman Isaac Henderson leading the way with a 99^th-place finish and 8:25.53 mark. Freshman Devin Moreau (Tyngsboro, Mass.) finished 104^th with a time of 8:28.92, while senior Joseph Curran took home 109^th place with an 8:31.98 mark.

The 5,000m closed out the day, and it was senior Jan Wouter Van Den Akker (Groningen, Netherlands) that led the way against tough competition, finishing 110^th with a time of 13:59.41. Graduate student Hunter Marion (Templeton, Mass.) was the next to finish, claiming 177^th with a 14:40.93 mark, while graduate student Will Benoit (Fairhaven, Mass.) finished in 182^nd with a 14:51.13 mark to close out the day.

"It was a great start to the track season with good opening runs from Graham in the mile, Isaac and Devin in the 3k running their first collegiate meet, and we wrapped up tonight with a great run by Wouter, running sub 14 in the 5k," said Assistant Coach Dayo Ibraheem.

The team will now have a break for the holidays, before returning to action on January 11 for the Suffolk Relays at the TRACK at new balance.