PRINCETON, N.J. – The UMass Lowell men's cross country team ran hard in the 8k event at the Princeton Fall Classic on Friday morning.

"The men's team took nice steps from Paul Short," said Head Coach Gary Gardner. "Overall, as young as we are, they ran really well."

In front for the River Hawks, senior Sean Kennedy-Wonneberger (East Haddam, Conn.) ran his way into the top 25, earning 25th after clocking in at a 23:37.6 mark, with graduate student Jan Wouter Van Den Akker (Groningen, Netherlands) nearby, claiming 28th at a 23:43.2 mark.

"Sean ran much better, which is a good boost," said Gardner.

Following behind, sophomore Devin Moreau (Tyngsboro, Mass.) was next, finishing at 24:20.0 for 88th place, as sophomore Isaac Henderson (127th, 24:40.5) and freshman William Conklin (Danvers, Mass.) (130th, 24:42.5) crossed next for the River Hawks. 

"The only real issue we had was Devin got tripped 800 in, and as he was getting up, he got knocked down again, so he went from 100 to 280 by the time he got up," said Gardner. "He did a great job getting back to 83rd, and if he stays up, we move up even more."

"Isaac being healthy helps the team a ton," mentioned Gardner. 

Staying attached were freshman William Simard (Francestown, N.H.) (161st, 24:56.8), graduate student Nate Deangelo (Bristol, Conn.) (169th, 24:59.7), and sophomore Dante Castellano (Nashua, N.H.) (175th, 25:01.1), with junior Keegan Tierney (East Greenwich, R.I.) (25:04.1) finishing in 184th place and senior Hatim Boukhtam (Abington, Mass.) (25:08.8) in 198th place, respectively.

Also competing in the 8k race are sophomore Jack Courtney, freshman Christopher Guerin (Shrewsbury, Mass.), and junior Nicholas Marcotte (Hudson, N.H.). 

The team prepares for the CCSU Mini Meet, happening next Friday, October 24, at Central Connecticut State.