BOSTON—In their last outing before the America East Championships next weekend, the UMass Lowell women's track and field team traveled to Boston Friday afternoon for the David Hemery Valentine Invite hosted by Boston University for one final round of fine-tuning.
 
"Today was a really great tune-up for the women," commented Head Coach Gary Gardner.
 
Graduate student Izzy Giesing (Bradford, Vt.) led the way with a great performance in the women's 800 meter. With a final time of 2:04.83, Giesing registered the second-fastest time in program history and clocked an 18th-place finish in a crowd of 248 runners.
 
"Izzy ran the second fastest time in school history in the 800 meter. The race was a little crowded, but she fought through and ran well," remarked Gardner.
 
The women's mile put up several promising times ahead of next weekend's challenge. Senior Kenzie Doyle (Swansea, Mass.) led the way for the River Hawks' mile crew with a 4:46.05 time to finish 60th out of 288 competitors.
 
Sophomore Sarah Ross (Agawam, Mass.) crossed the finish line next for UMass Lowell, just missing the top 100 runners with her 4:54.06 pace. Freshman Mary-Kate Finn (Nashua, N.H.) shaved considerable time off her last fastest mile time to clock in at 4:59.49 for a new personal best.
 
"The women's milers, as a whole, ran well and set themselves up well for conference," concluded Gardner.
 
Up next, the UMass Lowell men's crew lines up for Day 2 at the David Hemery Valentine Invite hosted by BU on Saturday. The action kicks off at 9 a.m.