Minutemen Race to Fifth at New England Championship

Daniel Sheldon was UMass' No. 2 runner at the New England Championships, placing 34th overall.

BOSTON - UMass men's cross country came away from the New England Championships with a strong showing as the squad finished fifth out of 38 teams with 211 points on Saturday afternoon at Franklin Park. Senior Ben Groleau was the first Minuteman to cross the line as he took 12th in a field of 251 competitors. Boston University claimed the New England title with 143 points followed by Amherst and Maine at second and third, respectively.

Groleau completed the 8K course in 25 minutes, 2.5-seconds, finishing as UMass' No. 1 runner for the third straight meet. Daniel Sheldon followed behind 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 McMahon rounded out the top-five UMass finishes in 76th with a 25 minute, 49.6-second performance.

The Minutemen have 20 days to rest up and prepare for their next competition as UMass will be back in action Oct. 31 for the Atlantic 10 Championship. The starting gun is scheduled to go off at 10:30 a.m. at Pole Green Park in Mechanicsville, Va.