University of Massachusets Athletics
Men's XC Takes on A-10 Championship Saturday
October 29, 2015 | Men's Cross Country
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Atlantic 10 Championship (8K)
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Date
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Saturday, October 31, 2015 – 10:00 a.m.
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Location
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Pole Green Park –Mechanicsville, Va. | Course Map
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Teams
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Davidson, Dayton, Duquesne, Fordham, George Mason, George Washington, La Salle, Rhode Island, Richmond, St. Bonaventure, Saint Joseph’s, Saint Louis, VCU
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Results
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Live Results | Atlantic 10 Championship Central
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Saturday's Race
- After remaining idle from competition since Oct. 10, Minutemen are ready to take on the Atlantic 10 Championship this weekend in Mechanicsville, Va. In the preseason poll back in August, UMass was tabbed eighth out of 14 teams in the league with George Mason picked to repeat as conference champions. Start time is slated for 10:00 a.m. at Pole Green Park on Saturday.
-Samuel Conway, Mike Framiglietti, Ben Groleau, Tyler Hagen, Morgan Marlow, Jay McMahon, Daniel Sheldon, Paolo Tavares, Benjamin Thomas and Cory Thomas are slated to race in the Oct. 31 meet.
Last Time Out
- At the New England Championship, the UMass men’s cross country program finished fifth out of 38 teams with 211 points.
- Ben Groleau was UMass’ No. 1 runner for the third straight meet, completing the 8K in 25 minutes, 2.5-seconds.
- Daniel Sheldon was the second UMass finisher at 34th overall with a 25 minute, 26.4-second run.
- Samuel Conway also earned a sport in the top-50, third for the team at 25 minutes, 31.7-seconds to place 43rd. Paolo Tavares ran 25:38.3 to take 55th and Jay McMahonrounded out the top-five UMass finishes in 76th with a 25 minute, 49.6-second performance
Groleau Recognized For New England Championship Showing
- Senior Ben Groleau was selected as the Atlantic 10 Men's Cross Country Performer of the Week on Oct. 13, the first weekly honor for a member of the Minutemen this season in recognitition of his 12th-place finish in a field of 252 competitors at the New England Championship.
Conway Honored Following Minuteman Invitaitonal Performance
- Sophomore Samuel Conway posted the first scoring performance of his career, finishing sixth overall in a field of 91 competitors as UMass' top runner at the season-opening Minuteman Invitational. He logged a time of 19 minutes, 51 seconds on the 6K course as the Minutemen took fourth with 90 points out of six teams. The performance earned him UMass Student-Athlete of the Week recognition.
Returning Runners
- The Minutemen return 12 individuals that competed in at least one meet last fall, including 10 who posted scoring performances.
- Senior Benjamin Thomas is UMass' top returner from 2014 after finishing as UMass' No. 1 runner in four of the six races he competed in last fall.
- Junior Blake Croteau scored for the Minutemen on four occasions in 2014, including taking second on the squad at the Paul Short Invitational.
- Senior Ben Groleau returns for 2015, as well. Groleau led the Minutemen to a seventh-place finish at the 2014 Atlantic 10 Championship and was tabbed Atlantic 10 All-Conference for taking 15th overall in the field of 126 runners.
Welcome To Amherst
- UMass welcomes three freshmen to the fold for the 2015 cross country campaign: Mike Famiglietti of Tewksbury, Mass., Zach Frahlich of North Andover, Mass., and Eric Waterman of Danbury, Conn.
- Waterman joins the Minutemen from Danbury High School where he was a two-time NBON qualifier and a two-time New England qualifier, took eighth at the Connecticut State Open Cross Country Championships and seventh at the NXN Northeast Regional.
Coach O'Brien At The Helm
- Ken O'Brien enters his 49th year as head coach of the UMass men's track and field and cross country programs in 2015-16. He is just the fourth head coach of track and field in the school's 111-year history of the sport that dates back to 1897.
- In O'Brien's 49 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.
What's Next
- Following the Atlantic 10 Championship, UMass will head to the NCAA Northeast Regional, which is set for Nov. 13 at 11:45 a.m. in Franklin Park in Boston, Mass.
Players Mentioned
