BOSTON—For the second time in four years, the UMass Lowell men's track and field program claimed the title at the 2022 America East Indoor Track and Field Championship hosted by Boston University. Collecting 215 points across two days of competition at the BU Track and Tennis Center, the River Hawks defeated reigning champions the University of Albany by an impressive 43-point margin.
 
"Both teams really did a great job. We scored from throws, hurdles, jumps, distance; all the kids did a great job from all the facets of the team. It was a team win," commented Head Coach Gary Gardner. "All the coaches and all the support team are a big part of that when you have a win like that."  
 
Picking up where they left off on day one, freshman Luke Stelmach (Sterling, Mass.) wrapped up the men's heptathlon with a fifth-place finish off a career-best 4,580 points. Stelmach's top-five performance came on the backs of a first-place clearance in the high jump for 740 points and a third-place finish in the 60-meter hurdles for 827 points.
 
The UMass Lowell field crew concluded the two-day spread of events with the men's finals in the shot put and high jump. Representing the River Hawks in the high jump, sophomore Michael Makiej (Andover, Mass.) placed fourth overall in a competitive crowd, clearing a personal-best 2.00 meter (6'6.75") mark to collect five points.
 
Returning to the cage after earning gold in the weight throw on Friday, graduate student Patrick Pang (Peabody, Mass.) tossed to a career-best 15.07 meters (49'5.5") to take sixth overall. Just behind his fellow thrower, graduate studet DeReginald Walker (Rancho Cordova, Calif.) rounded out the field scoring with a seventh-place toss of 14.86 meters (48'9").
 
Junior Evans Oduro (Kumasi, Ghana) set yet another personal best in the sandpit, jumping to a final mark of 14.09 (46'2.75") for sixth place and three points towards UMass Lowell's score.
 
Moving to the track, the UMass Lowell sprinters flexed their explosiveness to pick up several impressive finishes in the 60 meter, 200 meter and 400 meter races. Junior Michael Blake (Hudson, Mass.) won silver in the 60 meter in a neck-and-neck battle for the top spot. In addition to his second-place time in the 60 meter, Blake represented the River Hawks alongside fellow sprinter senior Joseph Young (Shrewsbury, Mass.). Blake and Young combined for six points towards the team's score, coming in fourth and eighth with times of 21.71 and 27.78, respectively.
 
The sprint crew's success followed them to the men's 400-meter as senior Kashief Bogannam (Kingston, N.H.), graduate student Joseph Gaudreau (Wilmington, Mass.) and junior Thomas Jordan (Needham, Mass.) went two-four-six in the lengthy sprint challenge. Bogannam and Gaudreau led the way in second and fourth with personal-best times of 47.80 and 47.96. Closing out the group, Jordan just narrowly missed a career best with a time of 48.98 to take sixth.
 
The middle distance crew excelled as they kept UMass Lowell ahead of the pack. In the men's 500 meter, junior Hunter Marino (Weymouth, Mass.) clocked in at 1:04.83 to take home the silver and snag eight points. Sophomore Tanner Jellison (Wakefield, Mass.) followed closely behind in the intense foot race, chasing down a career-best 1:05.37 to finish sixth.
 
The River Hawks widened their margin of victory with outstanding team outings in the men's 1,000 meter, mile and 3,000 meter events. Graduate students Daniel Cosgrove (Boxford, Mass.) and Noah Bellomo (Hudson, N.H.) kick-started the distance crew's domination with gold and silver medal runs in the 1,000 meter. Cosgrove and Bellomo held steady at the front of the pack throughout the race before turning up the heat to clock in at 2:25.55 and 2:27.21, respectively.
 
The mile came up all River Hawks as the team took five of the eight scoring slots. Earning silver and bronze, graduate students Christopher Alfond (Ashby, Mass.) and Derek Holmes (Marshfield, Mass.) finished in tandem. Alfond just narrowly edged out Holmes in a photo finish with Alfond crossing in 4:09.03 and Holmes in 4:09.04.
 
UMass Lowell clinched its spot at the top with an all-out top-to-bottom push in the men's 3,000 meter. Setting the pace, Holmes shattered a 24-year old conference record with ease, clocking in at 8:10.07 to claim first-place impressively. Coming in three-four-five, Alfond, junior John Riley (Quincy, Mass.) and graduate student Kyle Cloutier (Lancaster, Mass.) finished in quick succession with times of 8:12.0, 8:12.13 and 8:13.43, respectively. Alfond and Cloutier set new career-bests in the event with their third and fifth-place times.
 
"The two kids that really excelled over the weekend were Derek and Chris. Chris scored 24 points to be the high point scorer. Derek, in his third race of the meet, broke a conference record to win. It was a nice reward for him. He's worked so hard here over the last couple of years," remarked Gardner.
 
The River Hawks continue their postseason stretch next weekend, March 4-6, at the IC4A/ECAC Championships hosted by Boston University.