STORRS, Conn.—Traveling across the East Coast, the UMass Lowell women's track and field team split time between a trio of meets on Friday afternoon, taking on day one of the Northeast Challenge hosted by UConn as well as the Friar Invite hosted by Providence and the Larry Ellis Invite hosted by Princeton.
 
Headlining the evening at Princeton, senior Kenzie Doyle (Swansea, Mass.) had a stellar night representing the River Hawks' distance crew in the women's 5,000m. Finishing third overall, Doyle's 16:11.70 time has likely earned her a spot at the NCAA East Prelims.
 
"Kenzie ran fast enough to punch her ticket in the 5K to go along with her 10K time," remarked Head Coach Gary Gardner.
 
The River Hawks did not miss a step at the Friar Invitational with another wave of top times and personal bests. Graduate student Izzy Giesing (Bradford, Vt.) shone in the women's 400m dash. Testing her speed as the conference championships inch closer, Giesing handily snatched the top spot with a 55.86 mark in her first ever collegiate attempt.
 
Senior Avery Leydon (Woburn, Mass.) also impressed in the 400m dash. Just over two second after Giesing toed the line, Leydon darted across the finish line in 58.09 for fourth overall.
 
The success continued to roll in down in Providence as the River Hawks marched on to the women's 800m. Graduate student Emily Sessa (Tewksbury, Mass.) picked up a new collegiate best mark in the middle-distance dash to lead the crew. Sessa slid into ninth place overall after registering a final time of 2:11.39. Junior Rachel Thomas (Perry Hall, Md.) brought the heat in the 800m as well. Thomas turned in a standout performance to log a new personal-best time of 2:14.90 to take 14th.
 
Senior Chelsea Lynch (Amesbury, Mass.) came to compete as the lone River Hawk runner in the women's 400m hurdle. Lynch barreled down the track in 1:05.07 to not only take fourth place but also put up a new personal-best performance.
 
We had lots of really great races [in Providence], commented Gardner. "Conditions were nearly perfect, and the team took advantage."
 
Opening the weekend in Storrs, Conn., sophomore Fleur Balogh de Galantha (Grafton, Mass.) sits in seventh place in the women's heptathlon after the first four events. In her best finish of the day, Balogh de Galantha picked up a fourth-place finish in the high jump after clearing 1.62m (5'3.75").
 
The River Hawks close out the weekend on Saturday, April 15, with the final day of competition at the 2023 Northeast Challenge hosted by UConn. The action kicks off at 12 p.m. with the women's heptathlon.