ALBANY, N.Y. – The UMass Lowell women's track and field team put up a solid performance on day one of the 2023 America East Outdoor Championships at UAlbany on Saturday, ending day one just 23.50 points shy of the lead in sixth place, and advancing many to Sunday's finals.

"The team advanced the numbers we hoped to advance to the finals, which sets us up for a good day tomorrow," said Head Coach Gary Gardner.

Senior Kenzie Doyle (Swansea, Mass.) picked up the lone day-one victory for the River Hawks, becoming a back-to-back America East 10K Individual Champion after winning it last year. She finished this year's race with a time of 36:23.90, giving the River Hawks an important 10 points. Freshman Kylie Marion (Baldwinville, Mass.) (38:05.87) and junior Mary Yount (Northampton, Mass.) (38:56.68) also added some crucial points for the team in the 10K, finishing in sixth and eighth place, respectively.

"Kenzie repeated in the 10K and looked great," said Gardner. "She looked as good as she has looked all season." 

Graduate student Izzy Giesing (Bradford, Vt.) also found success, finishing second in the 1,500m run and earning a time of 4:41.95 to advance to finals. Classmate Emily Sessa (Tewksbury, Mass.) qualified in the 1,500m run as well, finishing with the sixth-fastest time of 4:43.72. 

Senior Chelsea Lynch (Amesbury, Mass.) ran impressively in the 400m hurdles, running to a time of 1:05.87 and garnering third-place to give her the opportunity to represent the River Hawks in the finals. 

In the 800m prelims, two runners qualified for the finals in junior Rachel Thomas (Perry Hall, Md.) and senior Avery Leydon (Woburn, Mass.). Thomas came in fifth with a time of 2:13.41, while Leydon's 2:15.73 mark was good for eighth-fastest. 

Junior Madison Marsh (Dudley, Mass.) punched her ticket to the finals in two different events on Saturday, finishing in fifth place in the 100m dash (11.96) and sixth place in the 200m dash (24.90). Graduate student Nina Tasker (Lebanon, Maine) was the only River Hawk to compete in the 100m hurdles, qualifying with a seventh-place time of 14.84.

In the field events, junior Martina Nkwantah (Pepperell, Mass.) advanced to finals in both the javelin and hammer throw. She placed fourth in the javelin on day one with a 38.89m toss, after finishing seventh in the hammer throw at 45.87m. Junior Rebecca Crosier (Shaftsbury, Mass.) took fifth in the long jump to qualify, leaping a distance of 5.74m.

Three women competed in the heptathlon for the River Hawks, as sophomore Fleur Balogh De Galantha (Grafton, Mass.) sits in second (2,877), senior Sydney Lewis (Nashua, N.H.) in fourth (2,579) and freshman Paige Murphy (Billerica, Mass.) (2,327) in eighth to conclude day one.

The River Hawks will return to UAlbany tomorrow, Sunday, May 7 to round off the 2023 America East Outdoor Championships.