ST. ALBANS, Vt. – The UMass Lowell men's cross country team opened up the 2024 season Saturday afternoon up north at the Vermont Invitational at Hard-Ack Recreation Area. 

"Overall, it was a really good start," said Head Coach Gary Gardner. "We tried to give some of the younger athletes a chance to compete early in the season. The men really showed their depth. Keegan, Dante and Anthony ran well. The thing I'm most pleased about is the grit they raced with."

It was sophomore Keegan Tierney (East Greenwich, R.I.) that led the way for the River Hawks in the 8k race, taking sixth place with a time of 25:42.4. Freshman Dante Castellano (Nashua, N.H) was just behind him with a 12th-place finish, earning a 26:13.3 mark. 

Freshman Anthony Verdi (Ijamsville, Md.) collected 18th-place honors before a flock of three River Hawks finished consecutively behind him. Sophomore Samuel Denis (Taunton, Mass.) finished in 20th with a time of 26:36.7, before junior Nathanael Fondakowski (Pelham, N.H.) took 21st with a 26:37.2 mark and freshman Patrick Hall finished in 22nd with a 26:40.7 mark. 

Next to cross was junior Daniel Burns (Billerica, Mass.) in 31st place with a time of 27:03.5, as freshman Tyler Young (27:23.6) and sophomore Dean Allen (Chelmsford, Mass.) (27:32.0) finished back-to-back in 38th and 39th place, respectively.

Graduate student Jake Connolly (Weymouth, Mass.) (27:56.5), senior TJ Glowik (Danvers, Mass.) (28:03.6) and sophomore Seyha Rath (Lowell, Mass.) (28:06.0) rounded out the River Hawk runners in 45th, 47th amd 48th place, respectively.

The River Hawks will not compete again until Saturday, September 21, when they travel to North Dartmouth, Mass. for the UMass Dartmouth Invitational.