BOSTON, Mass. – The UMass Lowell women's track and field team came out of the gates on fire at Saturday's 2023 America East Indoor Championships at the TRACK at new balance, concluding day one in first place with 52 total points. 

"It was a good first day for both sides," said Head Coach Gary Gardner. "We qualified who we should have through to the finals. Overall, we are in a really good position to compete for quality team finishes tomorrow."

As we've seen all season from both teams, the women found a lot of success in the longer distance runs, as three runners landed within the points for the River Hawks in the 5,000 meter run. Senior Kenzie Doyle (Swansea, Mass.) won the event, earning 10 points for the team with a time of 17:07.34. Sophomore Sarah Ross (Agawam, Mass.) was just behind her in second place, earning a time of 17:07.54 for eight points. Freshman Mary-Kate Finn (Nashua, N.H.) was the final point-scorer for the River Hawks in the 5k, finishing in fifth with a 17:16.16 mark for four points. They finished the race with 22 total points scored. 

Three River Hawks earned points in the pentathlon as well. Sophomore Fleur Balogh De Galantha (Grafton, Mass.) collected second-place with 3,292 points to give the team eight points. Senior Sydney Lewis (Nashua, N.H.) finished in sixth with 2,964 points, earning three points, while freshman Paige Murphy (Billerica, Mass.) tallied 2,752 points for eighth place and one point. Balogh De Galantha (1.63m) and Lewis (1.60m) finished consecutively in first and second place respectively in the pentathlon high jump, while Balogh De Galantha also won the shot put event (9.92m). 

The 4,000 meter DMR runners, graduate student Izzy Giesing (Bradford, Vt.), graduate student Tatum Pecci (Tewksbury, Mass.), junior Rachel Thomas (Perry Hall, Md.) and graduate student Emily Sessa (Tewksbury, Mass.) finished in first place with a time of 11:51.43 to earn 10 points for the River Hawks.

"The women's multis were awesome, placing three of them," said Gardner. "And the DMR made the win look easy."         

Junior Madison Marsh (Dudley, Mass.) was the lone qualifier in the 60 meter dash prelims, moving on to Sunday's finals with the day's fifth-best time of 7.65. Junior Alexandria Grasso (North Reading, Mass.) represented the River Hawks in the 60 meter hurdle prelims, finishing in third with an 8.70 mark to qualify for Sunday. Marsh also qualified in the 200 meter dash, finishing in seventh with a time of 25.26.  

Freshman Danielle Thompson (Groton, Mass.) qualified in the 400 meter dash, running a time of 59.15 for third place in her heat and eighth place overall. In the 500, senior Avery Leydon (Woburn, Mass.) ran a qualifying time of 1:16.02 for third place.

In the field events, junior Rebecca Crosier (Shaftsbury, Vt.) was the only point-scorer, finishing in second place in the long jump to earn eight points for the squad, reaching 5.73m.

"Becca had another great long jump day which was a huge boost for the team," said Gardner. "She is a kid that works really hard and it has all clicked the last two weeks."

The River Hawks will continue their quest for a conference title tomorrow, Sunday, February 19 at 10 AM at the TRACK at new balance.