Hanover, N.H.  –  A senior, a freshman and a relay team all grabbed first place finishes to highlight a solid performance by the UMass Lowell women's track and field team, Sunday, at the 46th Dartmouth Relays at the Leverone Field House in Hanover, N.H.

"For our first meet after a month off we were very pleased," said Head Coach Gary Gardner.  "There was some good, some not so good, some surprises.  There was more good than otherwise and we were very pleased with our fitness levels."

River Hawk women finished third among twelve colleges chalking up 47 points.  The host school, Dartmouth College, took the top spot with 122 points; Southern Connecticut State University was second with 79 points.

Senior Taelour Murphy (Salisbury, Mass.) turned in a series of strong performances.  Murphy won the 60 meter dash in a time of 7.66-seconds, two-one hundredths of a second ahead of the rest of the field.  Murphy won her preliminary trial before winning the final.  It was the first time this season that she put strong performances back-to-back.  

"She beat a very good field," said Gardner.  "She ran a quality race."

It was one of four quality races that Murphy ran.  She was part of two relay teams.

The 4 x 200 team of senior Shaneice Cola (Lowell, Mass.), junior Andrea Fanciullo (Townsend, Mass.), freshman Katie Mulkerin (Billerica, Mass.), and Murphy took the top spot with a time of 1:44.77.

The 4 x 400 meter relay team of Cola, Fanciullo, freshman Kerstin Darsney (Rowley, Mass.) and Murphy grabbed a third place finish with a time of 3:58.92.

The relay was just a small part of Darsney's day.  She won the triple jump with a distance of 38-feet, 9 1/2-inches.

"She's a real good athlete, she's the real deal," said Gardner.  "It was the first day that she has used a full approach."

Darsney had, earlier in the season, used a shortened run up in an effort to reduce the impact on her legs, be more technical and work on the mechanics of the jump.  It came together as she out jumped the rest of the field by more than three inches.

Freshman Alli Wood (Chelmsford, Mass.) finished eighth in the mile.  It was not high enough to score points, but it did impress the coach.  Because of injuries it was the first time Wood had competed indoors in two years.

"The effort was there, she raced well," said Gardner.  "It will help with her confidence; she is going to be good."

A couple of River Hawks turned in strong showings in the 3,000 meters.  Sophomore Jaclyn Solimine (Haverhill, Mass.) finished fifth and freshman Marissa Richards (Lowell, Mass.) took sixth.  Their times were 10:31.63 and 10:32.03 respectively.  Each was a personal best by a significant margin.

Freshman Celeste Pipia (Elmont, N.Y.) finished fifth in the shot put with a toss of 42-feet 2-inches.

The River Hawks are back in action Saturday at the Jumbo Invitational at Tufts University.