Quartet of River Hawks Continue Postseason Competition

NEW BRITAIN, Conn., SPRINGFIELD, Mass. And JERSEY CITY, N.J.—The UMass Lowell women's track and field team continued its postseason competition Saturday afternoon, splitting time between the New England Championships, the ECAC/IC4A Championships hosted by American International College and the Trials of Miles Night at the Track.

Down in Connecticut, a trio of River Hawk throwers—senior Chloe Eressy (Centerville, Mass.), freshman Martina Nkwantah (Pepperell, Mass.) and senior Jasmine McFarlane (South Yarmouth, Mass.)—took on the shot put and discus at the New England Championships. Eressy led the charge for UMass Lowell, earning her sixth first-place finish of the season in the shot put with a 14.39-meter toss and picking up ninth overall in the discus with a 39.02-meter mark.

"Chloe is a machine. She just doesn't have bad days," said Head Coach Gary Gardner. "Winning conference and New England's back-to-back weeks is just outstanding."

Joining Eressy in the shot put, Nkwantah and McFarlane also had an impressive showing. Closing out her freshman season, Nkwantah closed out the top-10 in the shot put with a 12.16-meter throw, coming within inches of her personal best. McFarlane rounded out the River Hawks crew, picking up 12th in the shot put with a 12.07-meter mark. The senior also competed in the discus, tossing to a 31.18-meter distance.

Back in the Bay State, senior Jenna Solimine (Haverhill, Mass.) represented the River Hawk women's distance crew in the 5K. Shaving nearly 11 seconds off her career-best mark set just two weeks ago, Solimine cruised to second place with a new personal-best time of 17:16.26.

"Jenna continues to improve, and she honestly exceeded all my expectations for this year," said Gardner. "It was a huge race for her."

Traveling down to New Jersey, graduate student Kaley Richards (Lowell, Mass.) and senior Emily Sessa (Tewksbury, Mass.) took on the 1,500-meter run at the Trials of Miles, fine-tuning their race day strategy as they approach the NCAA Regionals in just a few weeks. Richards continued her season-long success in the distance event, finishing second overall with a final time of 4:17.2.

"Kaley had the perfect tune-up 1,500 in a crowded field and closed in 62.5. She is absolutely ready for NCAAs," remarked Gardner.

Sessa's kept her breakout season moving forward, finishing 11th in the 1,500-meter field with a 4:26.65 mark.

After a brief break from competition, the River Hawks travel down to Jacksonville, Fla. for the 2021 NCAA Regional Championships. The action kicks off on Thursday, May 27.

Quartet of River Hawks Continue Postseason Competition

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Players Mentioned

Chloe Eressy

Jasmine McFarlane

Martina Nkwantah

Kaley Richards

Emily Sessa

Jenna Solimine

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