University of Massachusets Athletics
Minutemen Back In Action at NCAA Regional Qualifier
November 12, 2009 | Men's Cross Country
Nov. 12, 2009
BOSTON, Mass. - The UMass men's cross country team will begin the final stretch of the season as the squad will head to the NCAA Regional Qualifier in Boston, Mass. this Saturday, Nov. 14. This will be the second meet in Boston for the Minutemen as the New England Championships were also in the state capital. The meet is set to begin at 2:30 pm.
Just two weeks ago the Minutemen competed in one of the most important meets of the season at the Atlantic 10 Championships. UMass was able to stave off 12 of 13 teams that they ran against. The team was led by junior Kevin Johnson who crossed the line in 7th place with a time of 26:57.8. Senior Andrew McCann and sophomore Zachary Gordon finished in 10th and 14th respectively with times of 27:06.3 and 27:13.8. Helping to total the teams points at 67 were David Johnson and Sean Duncan in 17th and 19th, with times of 27:18.3 and 27:22.7 respectively.
Along with a second place team finish, Kevin Johnson, McCann, and Gordon were all named to the Atlantic 10 All-Conference team. David Johnson narrowly missed the all-conference accolade by finishing less than one second out of 15th.
Running with confidence, the Minutemen return three of the top five finishers on the team from last year's Regional Qualifier. Finishing second on the team and 31st overall was Jonathan Pierce with a time of 32:54.7. Kevin Johnson and Andrew Mulvaney rounded out the top five in 57th and 70th respectively with times of 33:23.9 and 33:45.3. UMass finished with 238 points, good enough to capture seventh place overall.
UMass hopes to finish at the top as the first two teams from each district will advance to the NCAA Championships. Along with these two automatic qualifiers, there will be 13 at large teams chosen by a committee to advance. Additionally, the first four individuals for each region (who are not members of the qualifying teams) will qualify for the NCAA meet, if they finish among the top 25 this weekend at regionals.
The men's portion of the regional meet will begin at 2:30 pm, while the women will follow at 3:30 pm.
