PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – A duo of UMass Lowell men's track and field athletes competed in day one of the Penn Relays Thursday evening, earning great times surrounded by some of the best athletes in the nation. 

First up was graduate student Joe Young (Dorchester, Mass.) in the 3,000m steeplchase, who earned a 36th-place finish with a time of 9:19.46.

Next was senior Jan Wouter Van Den Akker (Groningen, Netherlands), competing in the 5,000m race to conclude the night for the River Hawks. He zoomed past the finish line in 21st place out of 66 total finishers with a time of 14:03.88, just missing out on his personal best mark by just over four seconds.