River Hawks Earn Third-Place Finish at 2021 AE Outdoor Championships

Saturday, May 1

Lowell, Mass.

All Day

University of Massachusetts Lowell

America East Outdoor Championships

River Hawks Earn Third-Place Finish at 2021 AE Outdoor Championships

5/2/2021 9:54:00 PM | Women's Cross Country/Track & Field

LOWELL, Mass. – For the third consecutive year, the UMass Lowell women's track and field team earned a top-three finish at the 2021 America East Outdoor Championships.

UAlbany took the team gold for both the women and the men during the two-day conference event. The Great Danes earned 200 points on the women's side for the top spot. New Hampshire finished second with 145 points in the team standings, just ahead of the River Hawks, who accumulated 120 points for the bronze.

"Our team competed extremely well this weekend," said Head Coach Gary Gardner. "We exceeded expectations in several events. Izzy and Kaley had great days, as did all of the women's shot putters."

In the individual competitions, the River Hawk women earned seven medals on Sunday, including three golds.

The highlight of the final day of the championships for the women was the 800-meter race. Junior Izzy Giesing (Bradford, Vt.) (2:07.50) and graduate student Kaley Richards (Lowell, Mass.) (2:07.91) placed back-to-back in first and second. Junior Avery Leydon (Woburn, Mass.) (2:15.34) came in sixth to also score points for the River Hawks in that event.

Richards, who registered a new PR with her finish in the 800, also won the women's 5,000-meters with a time of 16:46.62 to earn 10 points towards the River Hawks' total score for the day.

Also on the track, senior Emily Sessa (Tewksbury, Mass.) won silver in the 1,500-meters, clocking in with a PR time of 4:27.60.

Senior Lauren Eddy (Grafton, Mass.) took silver in the 400m with a time of 56.11, while graduate student Cristina Galvagno (Newton, Mass.) finished just off the podium in 57.57 for fourth place.

Additionally, senior Kristin Hohenstein (Chelmsford, Mass.) crossed the finish line in 1:02.10 to earn bronze in the 400m hurdles.

In the field, senior Chloe Eressy (Centerville, Mass.) threw for a personal-best 48'0" in the shot put to take gold. Freshman Martina Nkwantah (Pepperell, Mass.) (40'0.5") and senior Jasmine McFarlane (South Yarmouth, Mass.) (39'9.75") also turned in strong performances for seventh and eighth in the event, respectively.

Up next, the River Hawks will travel to the UAlbany Spring Classic on May 7.