University of Massachusets Athletics
Paul Short On Tap For Men's XC
September 27, 2011 | Men's Cross Country
Sept. 27, 2011
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Following a solid second place finish at the Minuteman Invitational in Amherst, the UMass men's cross country team will make their first trip of the season west of Massachusetts, this Friday for the Paul Short Invitational. The meet, which is set to kick off at 11 am, is set to be held at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa. Ken O'Brien's squad will be racing in the Gold Race composed of 40 Div. I teams, two Div. II, and two Div. III squads.
Last Time Out
At the Minuteman Invitational, UMass was edged out by northeaster rival, UConn, by a mere four points, placing second in a field of six squads. The 4.3 mile course was redesigned due to extreme weather conditions from Hurricane Irene.
Locking in third place overall and first on the team was returnee Sean Duncan in his first meet of the season. Following Duncan were senior Patrick McAllister, week one UMass leader Antony Taylor, sophomore Patrick McGowan, and junior John O'Shea.
Around The Atlantic 10
Julian Saad took home A-10 Performer of the Week on September 26 for his Purple Valley Classic winning performance. The junior from Fordham University posted a time of 26:13.27, leading the Rams to a second place team finish.
Also being honored was Zachary Seites-Rundlett from URI as the Male Rookie Performer of the Week.
Through the weekend of September 25 and 26, the most races that any A-10 team has competed are four (Fordham). Duquesne and Saint Louis top the conference with undefeated records, as the Dukes have posted two first place team finishes, while the Bilikens have recorded one.
The Richmond Spiders enter the fall campaign as the reigning A-10 Champions on both the men's and women's sides. Through two races, the Spiders have posted two second place team finishes.
Fresh Outlook
For the second consecutive meet at the Minuteman Invitational (9/17), junior and newcomer John O'Shea placed in the team's top five, while taking 15th overall in 23:10.93.
Two newcomers made their way into team's top five at the season's opening meet in Smithfield, R.I (9/10). For the men, junior John O'Shea and Michael Giardina placed third and fourth on the team respectively while taking 26th and 28th overall.
UMass brings seven new competitors to the team this fall, with six of them being freshman. Apart from the first year harriers, Ken O'Brien has added John O'Shea as a current junior, and Benjamin Mears as a graduate student. Mears ran for the Amherst College Lord Jeffs and was a member of the 2007 12th place team at the Div. III Cross Country Nationals.
The freshman quintet consists of Zachary Florence (East Longmeadow, Mass.), John Mantia (Mansfield, Mass.), Michael Giardina (Lowell, Mass.), Curtis Owen (Boxborough, Mass.), and John Ryan (Westford, Mass.).
Schedules Set
The Minutemen opened the 2011 campaign at the Bryant University Invitational (9/10), where no team scores were kept. Antony Taylor led the squad for the first time in his career while placing 14th overall in 22:54.79.
On September 17, Ken O'Brien's squad 48 points while placing second at the home hosted Minuteman Invite in Amherst. UConn was the top performing squad, with 44 points. Next up, Lehigh University hosts the annual Paul Short Invitational on September 30 in Bethlehem, Pa.
Championship season commences with the New England Meet on October 8 with the sole trip of the season to Franklin Park for UMass. The Atlantic 10 Championship follows about two weeks later on October 29 in Charlotte, N.C., the same site of the 2011 A-10 Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
The final championship meet of the season comes at the NCAA Regionals in the Amherst of a different state, Amherst, N.Y. on November 12. Concluding the 2011 campaign is the IC4A Championship Meet in Van Cortlandt Park on November 19.
Hearty Harriers
Despite many young faces the Minutemen are returning several of last season's strongest harriers to this year's squads.
Sean Duncan and Patrick McAllister made their 2011 debuts at the Minuteman Invitational (9/17) as the upper class duo stole the top two spots for UMass, while placing third and ninth overall with times of 22:16.91 and 22:49.20. Also in the mix at the Amherst, Mass. hosted meet were sophomores Antony Taylor and Patrick McGowan. The roommates locked in marks of 22:54.79 and 22:55.68, while placing consecutively tenth and 11th.
In week one (9/10), the familiar faces at the front of the Minutemen's pack were Taylor, Andrew Erwin, and Jared Reddy. Taylor managed to post his first career top finish on the team with a time of 15:46.29 on the 5K course, while Erwin and Reddy followed in 16:02.64 (second on team) and 16:26.70 (fifth on team).
For Ken O'Brien, the stellar sophomore class comprised of Patrick McGowan, Jared Reddy, Paul Merriman, Dan Joyce, and Antony Taylor return to lead UMass. McGowan returns holding the highest top five team finish of any freshman last year as he placed second on the squad at the IC4A Championships with a time of 26:13.4.
In the form of leadership and strong performances, seniors Andrew Erwin and Patrick McAllister know the level of competition they will face. Graduate student Sean Duncan also returns a leader for UMass. McAllister led UMass in two meets in 2010 including at the IC4A and New England Championships. Erwin finished the season with two top five team finishes, coming at the IC4A and New England meets as well. Duncan did not compete in 2010, but did record three top five team finishes in 2009, including placing second on the squad at the UMass Five-Way Meet (9/19/09).
Experience At The Helm
There is no lack of leadership for UMass this fall as renowned leader Ken O'Brien returns for his 45th season, marking the longest tenured cross country coach in the Atlantic 10 Conference. Ranking closest to O'Brien in the A-10 are Tom Dewey at Fordham and URI's John Copeland, each with 30 years at the helm.
In O'Brien's 42 seasons coaching cross country and track and field at UMass, the Minutemen have won 19 conference titles (Yankee, Atlantic 10 and Eastern), four New England crowns, two IC4A titles and have had seven All-America performers.
During the 2008 cross country season, O'Brien was named Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year, as the Minutemen finished first in the league. This was the second-ever Minutemen A-10 Cross Country title, the first coming in 1995 when O'Brien brought home his first A-10 Coach of the Year award.
O'Brien started his first full-time coaching job at the University of Bridgeport (Conn.) in the fall of 1965. Nine months later he guided the program that had never scored a single point in the Collegiate Track Conference Meet to a second-place team finish. He returned to his alma mater in 1966 and served as an assistant coach for 18 months under Bill Footnick before taking over as head coach in 1968.
While an undergrad at UMass, O'Brien won six letters in cross country and track. He competed as a top performer on a cross country squad that won three consecutive Yankee Conference titles and the 1961 New England championship. An outstanding competitor in track and field, his 1:52:70 conference half-mile record remained unbroken for 10 years.
O'Brien, the co-recipient of the ECAC Merit Award in 1963 to the outstanding student-athlete at UMass, graduated with honors from the school of physical education in the same year.
Upon graduation, he served two years as a graduate assistant coach at Ohio University. He worked under the legendary coach, and member of the Track and Field Hall of Fame, Stan Huntsman, earning his Master's degree in 1964 from the Athens, Ohio, institution.
A native of Foxboro, Mass., O'Brien won 10 letters in football, basketball, baseball and track and captained all four sports his senior year at Foxboro High School.
In his spare time, he is a golf and baseball enthusiast and has coached a Little League team in Amherst for 23 years.
Players Mentioned
