PHILADELPHIA – The UMass Lowell men's and women's track & field teams traveled a small group to the Penn Relays this week, hosted by the University of Pennsylvania. Five runners competed in events on Thursday, April 27, while one thrower, sophomore James Kotowski, participated in the javelin on Saturday, April 29.

On Thursday, the only student-athlete from the women's side to make the trip to Philadelphia, graduate student Emily Sessa (Tewksbury, Mass.), raced in the women's 1,500-meter run, running impressively and finishing 17th out of 31 total finishers. Her 4:22.85 mark is good for her personal-best, putting her in contention for a NCAA Regional bid.

"Emily keeps chipping away at the NCAA Regional mark," said Head Coach Gary Gardner. "She is now right there to hopefully earn a bid." 

On the men's side, junior Joe Young (Dorchester, Mass.) and graduate student Joseph Walsh (Auburn, Mass.) both took part in the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase, each putting up remarkable times and crossing the finish line within the top eight. Young was the first to finish, claiming fifth place out of the 29 total finishers with a 8:52.95 mark, smashing his personal-best by more than two seconds. Walsh was not far behind in eighth place, earning a time of 8:58.04 and breaking his personal-best by a whopping 5.37 seconds.

"Joe Young and Joe Walsh ran the best races of their career thus far," said Gardner. "To place top eight at the Penn Relays is outstanding." 

In the men's 10k, senior John Riley (Quincy, Mass.) found success, finishing in sixth place out of 18 runners with a time of 29:39.29. 

"John Riley bounced back with a really solid 10k," commented Gardner. "It was great to see him look like himself again." 

Graduate student Daniel Cosgrove (Boxford, Mass.) participated in the men's 1,500-meter run, finishing in 38th place with a 3:54.83 mark, topping off the running events. 

The one field event that saw a River Hawk competitor was the javelin, where Kotowski earned the first-place victory with a massive toss of 70.42 meters. Kotowski beat out 13 other competitors to earn the title of Penn Relay Champion and collected his best mark of the season.

"James competed well against a group of competitors who he will see again at the NCAA Regional meet," said Assistant Coach Barabara Smith. "He had a very consistent series of throws and being back in the 70 meter range puts him in a good position going into the championship season."