April 16, 2010
Complete Release
Five members of the UMass Lowell women’s and men’s track and field teams were cited to the Northeast-10 Conference Winter All-Academic Teams, released Friday.
All five of UMass Lowell’s recipients – seniors Jacqui Barrett (Woburn, MA), Haley Catarius (Marshfield, MA) and Sharikka Finley-Moise (Lexington, MA) and juniors Lyra Clark (Nashua, NH) and Angus MacDonald (Methuen, MA) – repeated the honors from last year.
For Catarius and Finley-Moise, it marked the third straight year of receiving the distinction.
The honor is the latest academic plaudit for Catarius, Clark and MacDonald, who were each named to the NE-10 Cross Country All-Academic Team and the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) in January.
To be eligible for the academic all-conference teams, a student-athlete must have played in at least half of the team’s competitions as a significant contributor; achieved a 3.30 cumulative grade point average (on a 4.0 scale); and completed at least one academic year at his/her institution.
The UMass Lowell track and field teams enjoyed a magnificent indoor season and are in the midst of the outdoor season which has seen two members automatically qualify for the NCAA Championship and eight individuals and a relay team provisionally qualify.
Catarius, an exercise physiology major with a 3.46 cumulative grade point average, enjoyed a spectacular indoor season which saw her earn All-American (2:13.38) honors in the 800 meters. She looks to book her place in the NCAA Championship this spring Friday night in the 800 meters at the Mount San Antonio College Relays.
Barrett, a 3.56 student majoring in English, already solidified her place in the NCAAs in May as she currently ranks second in Division II in the shot put with a career-best toss of 49 feet, 9.0 inches. Barrett also earned All-American honors in the indoor season, which saw her place second (49’ 4.25’’) behind Kelly Ash of Ashland University (51’ 1.0’’) on the final throw of the competition.
Finley-Moise and Clark each enjoyed stellar indoor seasons. A psychology major with a 3.85, Finley-Moise highlighted the indoor season with fourth-place results in the 200 meters (26.18) and 55 meters (7.38) at the NE-10 Championship. Recently, she helped lead the 4X100 meter relay team to victory at the George Davis Invitational in 48.91 seconds.
Clark, a biology major with a 3.83, highlighted the indoor season by qualifying for the NCAA Championship in the distance medley relay (11:54.79), but withdrew due to an injury. She also shattered her own school record in the mile with a time of 5:00.72.
A mathematics major with a 3.41 cumulative average, MacDonald has made the most of his junior year, earning All-American honors at both the NCAA Cross Country Championship (placing 37th overall, 26th among scoring runners) as well as the indoor mile (4:15.04) and distance medley relay (10:15.51).
Additionally, MacDonald was named the recipient of the NE-10 Scholar-Athlete Sport Excellence Award for cross country. He has also nailed down his place for the NCAAs this spring in the 1,500 meters (3:50.32), ranking seventh on the Division II list.
