Trevor Cullen
Connector Editor

Not one, but three separate River Hawks stamped their place in the UMass Lowell record books last Saturday at the John Thomas Terrier Invitational, held at Boston University. Junior Robert Allen, senior Omar Abdi, and junior Garrett King each broke school records in their respective events.

“This is probably the best day on the track in the history of men’s track,” said Head Coach Gary Gardner to goriverhawks.com.  “Three school records and several ‘personal bests,’ that’s a hell of a day.”

Allen set the tone early when he ran an impressive 4-minute, 2.58-second mile, beating the previous school record of 4:04.98 set by Angus MacDonald in 2012. Gardner was happy with Allen’s effort and proud of his time.

“It was the best race he’s ever run,” said Gardner to goriverhawks.com.  “We came up with a game plan and he followed it to perfection.  When the race was over he told me he could run faster.”

Perhaps inspired by Allen’s performance, Abdi then turned in a brilliant effort in the 1,000 meters, beating the previous school record set in 2005 of 2:24.99 by .64 seconds, turning in a time of 2:24.35.

The last record to fall on Saturday was also the longest standing. Mike Shaw’s pole vault record of 14-feet 9-inches had stood since 2004, but King shattered that mark with his personal best and new school record vault of 15-feet 5-inches.

“He’s been a work in progress” said Gardner.  “He was a 13 foot vaulter when he arrived here.”

The River Hawks men’s and women’s track and field teams head to Rhode Island this Saturday for the University of Rhode Island Coaches Invitational.