BOSTON—The UMass Lowell track and field team closed out its weekend at the 2022 IC4A/ECAC Championship hosted by Boston University on Sunday afternoon with several individual victories across the board.
 
The men's distance crew led the way for the River Hawks with a trio of career bests in the 3,000-meter run from freshman Jan Wouter Van den Akker (Groningen, Netherlands) and sophomores Joe Young (Dorchester, Mass.) and Hunter Marion (Templeton, Mass.).
 
"It was a great day for the three freshmen in the 3,000 meter," commented Head Coach Gary Gardner.
 
Van den Akker paced the UMass Lowell crew with a time of 8:11.74 to take 13th overall. His impressive mark set a career best for the freshman as well as a school and Dutch national record.
 
"Wouter's time was the best freshman time in school history and a Dutch junior national record," remarked Gardner.
 
Marion clocked in next, finishing in 8:19.78 to surpass his previous fastest mark. Young rounded out the group right on the heels of Marion with an 8:22.56 time.
 
"Hunter has had an incredible few weeks coming up big at the conference meet then following that up with another personal best today. He's a grinder that works incredibly hard and deserves all the success," said Gardner.
 
Joining her distance counterparts, junior Allison Anusauskas (Auburn, Mass.) set a new best in the women's 3,000 meter. The Massachusetts native crossed the finish line in 10:17.36 to shave 14 seconds off her previous personal record from earlier this season.
 
Next, senior Izzy Giesing (Bradford, Vt.) heads south to Birmingham, Ala., to represent the River Hawks at the 2022 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships hosted by the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Meanwhile, the team takes a quick break from competition before opening the outdoor season with the Raleigh Relays and the 2022 UMass Lowell Invitational on the weekend of March 24-16.