35 Years ago

35 years ago – April 1985: I was having a lot of trouble with plantar fasciitis so my entire outdoor track season consisted of two races (one in April and one in May). Race number one was the BC relays on 04-18-1985 with my goal being a sub-30:30 for 10,000 meters which would qualify me for the NCAA nationals. Back in those days the track was slightly oversized to accommodate the football field. I remember that it was an unusual distance like 477 meters. Everyone would follow Brandeis coach Norm Levine around the track because he knew where the 400 meter splits were. I ended up running a U-Lowell record 29:48.2 for 7^th place knocking 5 seconds off of Mike Hurton’s previous record. Splits: 4:45/4:48/4:47/4:46/4:46/4:52. As of today my time that day is currently the 10^th fastest on the U-Mass Lowell all-time list. Paul Hogan has four of the top times and Jeff Veiga has 3 of the top 10 times.  Since UML went to Division 1 it isn’t a surprise that times have gotten much faster.

BC relays 10,000 meters

1 28:55 Jim Sapienza – Dartmouth

2 29:04 Pat Gilooly – BU

3 29:06 Ed Sheehan – Kangaroo AC

4 29:13 Bud Coates – Rodell Press

5 29:20 Ron Gilooly – Johnson & Wales

6 29:40 Gerald Clapper – Unattached

7 29:48 Dave Dunham – U-Lowell

Umass Lowell All-Time 10,000 meters 

1. Paul Hogan 28:49.55 Mt. SAC Relays @ El Camino 04/18/19 

2. Paul Hogan 28:58.42 NCAA East Regional @ UNF 05/23/19 

3. Jeff Veiga 29:07.76 Penn Relays @ Philadelphia 04/25/13 

4. Paul Hogan 29:23.86 Raleigh Relays @ NC State 03/30/18 

5. Dave Dunham 29:25.3(H) Penn Relays 04/23/87 

6. Paul Hogan 29:42.60 NCAA Championships @ Texas 06/05/19 

7. Jeff Veiga 29:46.51 Penn Relays @ UPenn 04/28/11 

8. Dave Dunham 29:48.24 B.C. Relays @ Boston College 04/18/85 

9. Jeff Veiga 29:48.39@ NCAA Champ. @ CSU-Pueblo 05/23/13

10. Ruben Sanca 29:49.48 Disney Invite @ Disney World, FL 03/19/10