Full Results

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Four River Hawks and a relay team grabbed first place finishes, Saturday afternoon, at the 32nd Alden Invitational, the first meet of the indoor season, at Brown University's Olney-Margolies Athletic Center in Providence, R.I.

Junior James O'Brien (Stoneham, Mass.) and seniors Marcus Duncan (Dalton, Mass.), Vladimir Popusoi (Greenfield, Mass.) and Celeste Pipia (Elmont, N.Y.) each took first place finishes in their specialties.  For O'Brien, Duncan and Pipia the performances were personal bests.  The men's 4 x 400-meter relay team also claimed a first place finish.

James O'Brien blazed to victory in the 60-meter dash.  His time of 6.84-seconds was a tenth of a second ahead of the rest of the field in an event that is completed in little more than a blink of an eye.  The time, a personal best, was also the quickest turned in by an America East athlete in the opening weekend and the ninth fastest in the country.

Marcus Duncan won the 300-meters by nearly a quarter second.  He was clocked at a personal best 35.49-seconds.  The 300 is an event that is run infrequently and often only early in the season.  Duncan is more comfortable at 400-meters and that was on display as the UMass Lowell 4 x 400-meter relay team took first place.

Duncan and teammates freshmen Fernando Lamin (Burlington, Mass.) and Tim McHugh (Medway, Mass.) and junior Connor Donovan (Methuen, Mass.) turned in a time of three-minutes, 27.22-seconds.  The group finished five seconds ahead of their closest challenger.

Vladimir Popusoi won the pole vault out jumping the rest of the field by more than a foot.  Popusoi cleared the bar at 15-feet.  Teammates sophomore Heath King (Newton, Mass.) cleared 13-feet, 11 3/4-inches.  Only Popusoi went higher but King placed fourth based on attempts.  Silvian Popusoi (Greenfield, Mass.) was fifth clearing 12-feet, 11 3/4-inches

Celeste Pipia led a River Hawk assault from the shot put circle.  She won the event with a personal best throw of 46-feet, eight-inches.  With 16 competitors in the competition, UMass Lowell women took the top five spots.  Junior Jennifer Lee was second with a toss of 43-feet, 11 1/4-inches.  Freshman Chloe Eressy (Centerville, Mass.) was third heaving the metal ball 43-feet, 2 1/4-inches.

Junior Meghan Richards (Pembroke, Mass.) and freshman Jasmine McFarlane took fourth and fifth place with throws of 38' 8 3/4" and 38' 6" respectively.

In the men's shot put River Hawk throwers also turned in a strong performance grabbing second, third and fourth place.  Senior Ryan Kerrigan (Dracut, Mass.) took second place with a throw of 50-feet, 3 1/2-inches.  Grad student John Fiorello (Tewksbury, Mass.) earned a third place finish with a throw of 48' 9 1/2".  Freshman Mark Dunne (Westford, Mass.) put his name fourth with a throw of 46' 4".

The River Hawks also showed depth in the high jump.  UMass Lowell jumpers finished second, third and fourth.  Fernando Lamin and sophomore Ian Dolaher (Melrose, Mass.) cleared the bar at 6-feet, 7 1/2-inches.  Lamin was placed second, Dolaher third based on attempts.  Senior Rino Tonelli (Shrewsbury, Mass.) finished fourth with a jump of 6' 5 1/2".

Lamin also took a third place finish in the long jump.  His best jump of the day was 21-feet, 2 1/2-inches.  Freshman teammate Timothy McHugh finished fourth with a jump of 20' 7 1/4".

Freshman Patrick Pang (Peabody, Mass.) finished second in the weight throw with a heave of 49-feet 6 1/2-inches.  The throw was two-inches farther than that of teammate junior Forrest Gyurcsik (Westford, Mass.)  Gyurcsik finished third.

River Hawk runners, a sophomore and two freshmen, also grabbed spots two, three and four in the 1,000-meters.  Sophomore Tyler Schmidt (Clifton Park, N.Y.) hit the finish line in a time of 2:35.78 to earn the second place finish.  Joe Farhat (Peabody, Mass.) and Anthony Rodriguez (Lowell, Mass.) were the next two across the finish line with times of 2:36.64 and 2:37.59 respectively.

Junior Cameron Aiello (Billerica, Mass.) and Connor Donovan (Methuen, Mass.) finished second and third in the 60-meter hurdles with times of 8.70 and 8.86-seconds.

Seniors Nikayla Simpson (Brockton, Mass.) and Kerstin Darsney (Rowley, Mass.) also grabbed second place finishes.  Simpson earned her second in the 200-meters.  She turned in a time of 26.12-seconds.  Darsney took second in the triple jump with a distance of 38-feet, 7 1/2-inches.

The indoor season has begun, but gets put on pause for finals and winter holidays almost immediately.  UMass Lowell will return to action January 7, 2018 at the Dartmouth Relays in Hanover, N.H.