HOPKINTON, N.H. – A small group of runners from the UMass Lowell men's and women's cross country teams traveled to Hopkinton State Fairgrounds on Friday afternoon to compete in the NEICAAA New England Cross Country Championships.

The women kicked off the day with the women's 5k, and just two River Hawks took part, as graduate student Kaitlyn Stevens (Oxford, Mass.) led the way with a 187^th-place finish and a time of 20:35.31. Freshman Sabrina Vitale (Dracut, Mass.) also competed, finishing in 213^th place with a 21:05.00 mark.

On the men's side, the men's 8k was next, and it was junior Samuel Denis (Randolph, Mass.) that finished first for the River Hawks in 36^th place with a personal-best time of 25:19.01. Junior Nicolas Uzzo (East Bridgewater, Mass.) was next in 75^th place with a 25:50.19 mark, before senior Daniel Burns (Billerica, Mass.) claimed 85^th with a time of 25:57.09. Junior Dean Allen (Chelmsford, Mass.) finished in 126^th with a time of 26:32.59, and freshman Jackson Beauparlant rounded out the River Hawk runners with a 144^th-place finish and time of 26:47.94.

"Sam ran well," said Gardner. "He always runs well in Hopkinton and once again he ran a personal best. Nick and Dan continued to run well for the second straight week."

The collegiate open 5k and 8k closed out the day for the River Hawks and all UMass Lowell runners ran unattached. For the women, senior Raihana Yameogo (Dillsburg, Pa.) finished second overall with a 5k time of 19:09.01 as the lone River Hawk in the race. For the men, senior Ethan Mashtare (St. Albans, Vt.) and sophomore Patrick Hall (Billerica, Mass.) finished consecutively in second and third place, with times of 25:26.97 and 25:27.35, respectively. Graduate student Timothy Brigham (Holden, Mass.) was the final River Hawk to cross the finish line, claiming 19^th with a 26:13.30 mark.

Next up, the River Hawks will travel to New Jersey for the Princeton Fall Classic next Friday, October 17.