BOSTON, Mass. – With three first-place finishes, the UMass Lowell women's track and field team found success at the Battle in Beantown on Saturday, hosted by Boston University. 

Graduate Student Izzy Giesing (Bradford, Vt.) won the 600-meter run by 2.19 seconds, earning a time of 1:30.82. Four River Hawks finished consecutively in the top ten from seventh to 10th place. Freshman Nubia Pereira (Woburn, Mass.) earned seventh place honors with a time of 1:40.76 while senior Chelsea Lynch (Amesbury, Mass.) crossed just behind her with a time of 1:40.87. Senior Leah Rudolph (Gloucester, Mass.) and junior Delani Dorsey (Haverhill, Mass.) finished in ninth and 10th place respectively as Rudolph earned a 1:42.61 mark and Dorsey finished in 1:45.49. 

Another River Hawk first-place finish came in the mile run where senior Kenzie Doyle (Swansea, Mass.) won with a time of 4:44.30, just ahead of second-place finisher, graduate student Emily Sessa (Tewksbury, Mass.) (4:48.86). Graduate student Caroline O'Shea (Nashua, N.H.) also finished in the top ten, picking up sixth place with a 4:58.67 mark. 

Sophomore Sarah Ross (Agawam, Mass.) picked up a victory in the 3,000-meter run by 8.46 seconds, finishing with a time of 9:47.29. Freshman Mary-Kate Finn (Nashua, N.H.) earned third place honors with a time of 10:00.73 while junior Mary Yount (Northampton, Mass.) and freshman Miana Caraballo (Methuen, Mass.) finished in fifth and sixth-place respectively. Yount ran to a 10:14.73 mark while Caraballo finished with a time of 10:15.34.  

In the 60-meter dash, junior Madison Marsh (Dudley, Mass.) was the lone River Hawk and finished in fourth place with a time of 7.69. Junior Alexandria Grasso (North Reading, Mass.) represented the River Hawks in the 60-meter hurdles, crossing the finish line in fifth place with a 8.85 mark, and senior Avery Leydon (Woburn, Mass.) earned a fourth place finish in the 300, earning a 41.55 mark as the only River Hawk.

In the field events, junior Erin Jensen (Brimfield, Mass.) tied for second place in the high jump with a height of 1.67 meters. Sophomore Fleur Balogh de Galantha (Grafton, Mass.) tied for fifth place, reaching 1.62 meters while senior Isabella Ha (Chester Heights, Pa.) earned a share of eighth place with a 1.57-meter jump.

Balogh de Galantha also competed in the long jump for the River Hawks, finishing in 16th place with a distance of 5.12m. Junior Rebecca Crosier (Shaftsbury, Vt.) finished just behind her in 17th place, reaching 5.10m. 

In the shot put, junior Martina Nkwantah (Pepperell, Mass.) finished in seventh place with a distance of 12.95m.  

Junior Wonuola Ashaju (Lagos, Nigeria) had a sixth-place performance in the triple jump, hitting a personal-best distance of 11.51 meters.

"This was a great step forward for the team from a week ago," said head coach Gary Gardner. "That's what you hope for as you get more acclimated to the competition. We had some really good performances today with Izzy, Kenzie, Emily, etc. for the women."

Next up, the River Hawks will compete in the John Thomas Terrier Classic, also hosted by Boston University on Friday and Saturday, January 27 and 28.