River Hawks Kick Off Outdoor Season; Richards Smashes Records in Raleigh

Friday, March 26

Raleigh, N.C.

University of Massachusetts Lowell

Raleigh Relays

River Hawks Kick Off Outdoor Season; Richards Smashes Records in Raleigh

3/26/2021 11:38:00 PM | Women's Cross Country/Track & Field

RALEIGH, N.C. and BURLINGTON, Vt.—The UMass Lowell women's track and field program kicked off the outdoor season Friday, competing at Vermont and the Raleigh Relays in a pair of season-opening meets.

Down in Raleigh, graduate student Kaley Richards (Lowell, Mass.) had a record-setting night, smashing the school record in the 1,500m run by nearly six seconds with a personal-best time of 4:16.56. The previous school record of 4:22.95 was set by Richards in 2019.

"Kaley ran very well. Hitting the NCAA mark in the first meet of the outdoor season takes away a lot of stress moving forward," said Head Coach Gary Gardner. "The race was set up perfect with a few of the other top NCAA finishers from the indoor championships. Kaley's goal was just be competitive and race, and we knew the time would be there."

With her time, Richards now holds the second-best time in the NCAA in the long-distance outdoor event, just .16 seconds behind Rhode Island's Lotte Black.

Meanwhile, members of the women's squad took on the Catamounts in their first conference dual-meet of the outdoor season, topping Vermont with a team score of 88.

"For many of our women it's been over a year since their last competition, so it was important to get out there and shake the rust off," said Assistant Coach Zach Nelson. "I think we did more than that today as many of our athletes showed how hard they have been working this past year to prepare for today, despite less than ideal conditions."

Senior Lauren Eddy (Grafton, Mass.) and graduate student Cristina Galvagno (Newton, Mass.) led the River Hawks in the sprints. Eddy claimed a pair of first place times in the 200m and 400m, finishing in 25.48 and 55.93 respectively, while Galvagno picked up first in the 100m (12.71) and second in the 200m (25.76) just behind Eddy.

In the 400m hurdles finals, senior Kristin Hohenstein (Chelmsford, Mass.) claimed first in a nail biter race to the finish, beating out Vermont by just a second to clock in at 1:04.04.

Senior Emily Sessa (Tewksbury, Mass.) dominated the 800m final, crossing the finish line in 2:16.05 to take first in the middle-distance sprint. Just behind Sessa, sophomore Chelsea Lynch (Woburn, Mass.) earned second with a time of 2:22.02 to edge out Vermont.

Long distance runner senior Jenna Solimine (Haverhill, Mass.) clinched second in the 1,500m for the River Hawks, setting a new personal-best time of 4:49.54 to shave off nearly seven seconds from her previous career-best time. Joining her in the top-three, junior Olivia Sheffield (Lowell, Mass.) competed for the first time in the long-distance event, placing third overall with a time of 4:54.08.

In the shot put, senior Chloe Eressy (Centerville, Mass.) led the River Hawks, registering a 13.55-m toss to finish first in the event. Senior Jasmine McFarlane (South Yarmouth, Mass.) also picked up a top-three finish for UMass Lowell, posting a 12.01-m mark for third place.

Freshman Erin Jensen (Brimfield, Mass.) and sophomore Sierra Rudolph (Gloucester, Mass.) rounded out the field group by clearing the 5-3 mark in the high jump to pick up first and second place finishes, respectively.

The River Hawk return to action next weekend, April 2-3, traveling to William & Mary and Massachusetts for a set of meets.