BOSTON, Mass.— The UMass Lowell men's track & field team competed against some tough competition from the New England region on Saturday at Battle in Beantown, hosted by Boston University.

"It was a big step forward this weekend," said Head Coach Gary Gardner. "Every year, it takes a few weeks of practice and competition before things start to come together after the holiday break. Today certainly showed that's true again this year."

At Boston, sophomore Tristian O'Riorden kicked off the afternoon for the River Hawks with a tenth-place finish in the 200-meter dash, clocking in a personal best of 22.24. Sophomore Brett Earle (Baldwinville, Mass.) finished just behind his teammate in 11th with a personal best of 22.31. Freshman Evan Imasogie (Lowell, Mass.) (22.84), Daniel Kennedy (Tolland, Conn.) (22.84), and Aras Kaya (Winchester, Mass.) (22.85) all finished within .01 seconds of each other, taking 17th, 18th, and 19th, respectively. In the 300-meter dash, senior Thomas Jordan (Needham, Mass.) led all River Hawks, finishing in third place with a 34.45 mark, while senior Hunter Marino (Weymouth, Mass.) took sixth with a personal best of 34.69.

Senior Adam Katerji (Shrewsbury, Mass.) impressed in the 400-meter dash, running a time of 50.33 to take seventh place and set a new personal best. Sophomore Alejandro Lynch (50.40) and freshman Willem Eisl (54.36) ran hard, setting new personal bests, finishing in sixth and 11th.

The squad showcased their depth in the 800-meter event, with four runners crossing the line consecutively, all earning top-ten finishes. Junior Andrew Benassi was the first River Hawk to cross the line, taking sixth with a new personal best mark of 1:55.31. Freshman Dennis Satchek (Boston, Mass.) (1.55.95) took seventh place, while junior Sean Riley (Wilmington, Mass.) (1:56.26) and sophomore Michael Soucy (Methuen, Mass.) (1:56.28) took home eighth and ninth, with Riley recording a new personal best. In the 600-meter run, sophomore Bradley Diaz shined, taking third place and laying down a new personal best time of 1:18.87. Sophomore Basit Iddriss (Milford, Mass.) followed close behind, crossing the line in sixth place with a time of 1:20.41.

Sophomore Sean Kennedy-Wonneberger led all River Hawks in the 1-mile event, setting a new personal best of 4:08.85 to take ninth. Junior Graham Sedfast (Rowley, Mass.) was the next to cross the finish line, running hard to take 13th with a 4:10.34 mark. Senior Joseph Young (Dorchester, Mass.) (4:11.06) and Hatim Boukhtam (Abington, Mass.) (4:13.49) also impressed, collecting new personal bests along with 16th and 21st, respectively.

Freshman Timothy Walsh (Auburn, Mass.) (8:37.88) and freshman Nicholas Marcotte (Hudson, N.H.) (8:41.53) were the lone River Hawks to compete in the 3000-meter, taking home 11th and 13th. 

In the field events, freshman Shane Exilhomme (Orlando, Fla.) excelled, earning third after recording a personal best 1.91m in the high jump. Junior's Luke Stelmach (Sterling, Mass.) and Michael Makiej (Andover, Mass.) also competed, laying down a 1.86m and 1.81m mark, earning sixth and ninth, respectively. Two River Hawks competed in the pole vault event, with senior Daniel Cuddy (Hudson, Mass.) earning fifth place after a 4.15m mark. Sophomore Derek Munroe (Tewksbury, Mass.) rounded out the event with a vault of 4.00m to take ninth. 

In the long jump, freshman Brandon Riley (Wilmington, Mass.) took ninth, jumping to a mark of 6.45m, while graduate student Evans Oduro (Kumasi, Ghana) (14.12m) and junior Ben Ayotte (Salisbury, Mass.) (11.77m) finished in fourth and eighth in the triple jump.

In the shot put, Derek Munroe added another strong performance to his afternoon, taking third place with a 13.10m toss. Sophomore Mukanya Kazadi (Woburn, Mass.) finished just behind in fourth, recording a throw of 12.78m. Sophomore Peter Gardikas rounded out the event for the River Hawks, reaching a mark of 11.98m to take seventh.

"Every event group really was impressive today, so we will continue to builds towards the championship season," said Gardner.

Next, the River Hawks host the River Hawk Invitational at the Track at New Balance in Boston, Massachusetts on January 26th and 27th.