Full Results

BOSTON, Mass.  –  Senior Taelour Murphy (Salisbury, Mass.), freshman Kerstin Darsney (Rowley, Mass.) and the 4 x 400 meter relay team grabbed first place finishes to highlight a strong performance by the UMass Lowell women's Track and Field Team, Thursday evening, at the Boston University Multi-Team Invitational at the Track and Tennis Center.

This was the first real test for the year and we did great," said Head Coach Gary Gardner.  "I think that for most of the kids it was their best performance of the year.  We had a really nice night as a team.

Murphy won the 200 meter dash in a time of 24.27-seconds, nearly half a second better than the rest of the field.  She'd gotten a slow start out of the blocks, but just outran the field.

"Her top end speed is better than almost everybody else's," said Gardner.   "Her top end speed can carry her through and she's got the confidence that her top end speed is better so she just keeps on coming and coming and coming and she doesn't give up on anything even if somebody's in front of her."

By the time Murphy hit the finish line, she was by herself.

Junior teammate Shaniece Cola (Lowell, Mass.) turned in a personal best with a time of 25.48-seconds in the 200 meters.  The time earned her a fourth place finish.

Murphy also placed second in the 60 meter dash.  She hit the finish line in a time of 7.73-seconds in the final.  She'd run a 7.69 in the qualifying heat.

The 4 x 400 meter relay team also earned first place honors.  The group of Cola, junior Alexis Kitsakos (Merrimac, Mass.), sophomore Aliyah Alley (Wareham, Mass.) and freshman Katie Mulkerin (Billerica, Mass.) crossed the finish line in a time of three-minutes, 56.62-seconds.  That was more than four second better than the runner up, Boston College.

Darsney won the triple jump with a hop, step and a jump of 38-feet, 8 1/4-inches.  That was more than three feet further than her nearest challenger.

There were several other strong if not first place performances.  And many of those performances were turned in by freshmen and sophomores.

Freshman Alli Wood (Chelmsford, Mass.) finished fourth in the 800 meters with a time of 2:17.75.  

Freshman Kathryn Loughnane (North Attleboro, Mass.) also took a fourth place in the 1,000 meters.  She finished in a time of 3:02.96.

Sophomores Jaclyn Solimine (Haverhill, Mass.) and Erin Donovan (Lowell, Mass.) earned fourth place finishes in the mile and the 3,000 meters respectively.  Solimine ran the mile in a personal best time of 5:06.86 and Donovan completed the longer challenge in a time of 10:17.30.

Freshman thrower Celeste Pipia (Elmont, N.Y.) scored in two events.  Pipia took third in the weight throw with a distance of 43-feet, 11 3/4-inches and fourth in the shot put with a toss of 39-feet, 11 1/2-inches.

The River Hawks return to competition Friday and Saturday, January 30 and 31, at the John Thomas Terrier Classic at Boston University.