JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The four members of the UMass Lowell men's and women's track and field teams that qualified for the NCAA East Preliminaries have touched down in Jacksonville and are gearing up for competition. The event spans from Wednesday, May 24 to Saturday, May 27, and a good performance can punch any athlete's ticket to the NCAA Championships in Austin, Texas in June.

"All four have obviously had outstanding seasons," said Head Coach Gary Gardner. "To have three people ranked in the top 15 is a program first. Hopefully we can have some of them advance to Texas." 

Sophomore James Kotowski (Stoneham, Mass.) is one of those top-15 athletes, coming in at #13 in the men's javelin. He will be the first and only River Hawk to compete on Wednesday, with the event starting at 1:30 p.m. Kotowski is riding a lot of momentum into the event, as he smashed the America East Championship record with a personal-best throw of 71.78 meters just over two weeks ago. The first-place finish marked his fourth in a row and fifth top-five finish of the spring. Before becoming a conference individual champion, he bested the competition at the April 29 Penn Relays, picking up a 70.42m mark on his way to being crowned a Penn Relays Champion. In the weeks prior, Kotowski won at both the George Davis Invitational (68.55m) and the Merrimack College Track Carnival (63.81m), after earning a fifth-place finish at the Raleigh Relays (66.81m). He has improved his mark throughout this outdoor season, so he is on track for a big day on Wednesday. 

"James' last three meets were the best of the season," said Gardner. "If he can perform at the same level, he should have a great chance to finish in the top 12. His confidence should be high after winning conference and Penn Relays." 

Thursday will see both members of the women's team compete in graduate student Izzy Giesing (Bradford, Vt.) and senior Kenzie Doyle (Swansea, Mass.). Giesing will be first, running the 800m at 7:50 p.m., while Doyle is scheduled to follow her up in the 10K at 9:10 p.m. Competing in multiple different races throughout the spring, Giesing qualified for the 800 when she crossed the finish line at the Virginia Challenge in third place with a 2:03.81 mark, earning herself the #12 ranking. During the indoor season, she set her personal-best in the 800 at the Last Chance Meet (2:02.35) to qualify for NCAA Championships, where she placed 12th overall (2:06.72). Doyle is coming off an America East Individual Championship in the 10K, winning fairly handily with a 36:23.90 mark. She is ranked #14 and qualified for the NCAA East Preliminaries after the Raleigh Relays, where she finished 10th overall and broke her personal record with a time of 33:25.72 in her first race of the spring. She is also a double-qualifier this season and will compete in the 5K race on Saturday.

"Izzy is the most experienced of the group," commented Gardner. "We will take one race at a time with the trials on Thursday. She has crushed her last few workouts, so I'd expect her to be ready." 

The second member of the men's team to earn a trip to Jacksonville is junior Joe Young (Dorchester, Mass.). The distance runner has found success this season in the 3,000m steeplechase, most recently winning the America East Championship race with a time of 9:04.99. At the Penn Relays, Young flew around the track, as he picked up his personal-best time of 8:52.95 and an impressive fifth-place finish. He also ran to fourth place at the Larry Ellis Invitational (8:55.35) and 22nd place at the Raleigh Relays (8:59.78) in his other steeplechase appearances this outdoor season. The NCAA East Preliminaries 3,000m steeplechase is set to begin on Friday at 5:40 p.m.

"Joe is the only one competing in his first NCAA competition," said Gardner. "He is one of the best competitors on the team, so I am sure he will do fine."

To cap off the week of competition, Doyle will run the 5K on Saturday, which she knows all too well. She has finished within the top three of all three of her 5Ks this outdoor season, and has won her past two. At the Yale Last Chance Meet on May 13, Doyle ran the best 5K of her career, winning the race with a remarkable time of 16:00.06. This came just six days after becoming a double individual champion at the America East Championships in the 10K and 5K. She won the 5K race with a 17:20.91 mark.

"Kenzie has a long week ahead of her, competing in the two longest races of the meet," said Gardner. "She has had a great last few weeks and seems primed for a successful week."

The NCAA East Prelim 5K will take place on Saturday at 8:10 p.m. The full schedule of events and results can be found here.