River Hawks Overcome Heat at Paul Short Run
10/2/2026 12:43:00 PM | Men's Cross Country/Track & Field
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The UMass Lowell men's cross country team traveled to Lehigh for the Paul Short Run on Friday morning, competing against some of the top competition in the nation.
"It was a tough day with high heat and humidity, and we definitely struggled with it," said Head Coach Gary Gardner.
The open men's 8k got the day started, with sophomore Chris Guerin (Shrewsbury, Mass.) leading the River Hawks by finishing 28th out of 587 competitors with a time of 25:38.4. Freshman Sean Finnegan (Hopkinton, Mass.) also ran well, crossing the finish line in 31st place with a time of 25:40.4. Freshman Lucas Gomez (Salem, N.H.) followed in 58th place with a time of 26:09.5, while junior Jamie Lano (Strafford, N.H.) claimed 63rd place with a time of 26:13.1 and freshman Benjamin Schildgen (Litchfield, Conn.) took 65th with a time of 26:15.2.
Freshman Luke Zahurak (Walpole, Mass.) narrowly missed a personal best, finishing 69th with a time of 26:16.9. Fellow freshman Jimmy Kelly (Lowell, Mass.) and junior Patrick Hall (Billerica, Mass.) also earned top-100 finishes, crossing the line in 97th and 99th place, respectively, with times of 26:31.4 and 26:33.2. Senior Dean Allen (Chelmsford, Mass.) (105th, 26:34.6), graduate student Nathanael Fondakowski (Pelham, N.H.) (124th, 26:49.8), senior Seyha Rath (Lowell, Mass.) (181st, 27:18.0) and senior Nicolas Uzzo (East Bridgewater, Mass.) (211th, 27:34.4) also competed for the River Hawks.
"It was a tough day overall, with temperatures in the low 80s and high humidity," Gardner added. "Those are just conditions we aren't used to this time of the year. We ended up losing our top two men and two of our top seven women to the heat, so the results are kind of what they are. We just need to look forward to the next competition."
Later in the day, the men's college gold 8k saw sophomore Will Simard (Francestown, N.H.) lead the way for UMass Lowell, finishing 52nd out of 302 competitors with a time of 25:00.6. Senior Nicholas Marcotte (Hudson, N.H.) followed in 71st place with a time of 25:18.4, while junior Dante Castellano (Nashua, N.H.) finished just behind him in 78th place with a time of 25:22.5. Senior Keegan Tierney (East Greenwich, R.I.) earned 90th place with a time of 25:27.6, while junior Isaac Henderson rounded out the River Hawks' top 100 with a 98th-place finish in 25:31.9.
Sophomore James Cruse (Melbourne, Australia) was next in 109th place with a time of 25:38.0, while graduate student Ethan Mashtare (St. Albans, Vt.) and junior Jack Courtney rounded out the River Hawk runners in 140th and 214th place, respectively, with times of 25:52.8 and 26:29.0.
The team will now set its sights on the New England Cross Country Championships next Friday, October 9 at the Hopkinton State Fairgrounds in Hopkinton, N.H.
