BOSTON, Mass. – The UMass Lowell women's indoor track and field team competed in two different events Saturday, as most of the team made their indoor season debuts at the Early Bird Invitational at the TRACK at new balance and the BU Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener at the Track and Tennis Center at Boston University.

"We are really pleased with where we are starting the season off this year," said Associate Head Coach Ally Waruch. "We are always hopeful when a lot of athletes can match or improve on where they were at this time last year. It was great to see a lot of the freshman performing quite well in their first collegiate meet."

The 60m dash opened up the day at the Early Bird Invitational, and it was sophomore Jayani Santos (Tewksbury, Mass.) that was the lone competitor, claiming third with a time of 7.77. Junior Kylie Marion (Baldwinville, Mass.) was the lone attached River Hawk in the mile, taking home 13^th place with a time of 5:22.74.

In the 400m dash, sophomore Bridget Geary (Lowell, Mass.) led the way on eighth place with a time of 1:02.27, while freshman Brianna Phelan (Billerica, Mass.) claimed 16^th with a time of 1:06.38. Junior Nia Mainer-Smith (Taunton, Mass.) ran well in the 800m run, finishing second with a 2:18.24 mark, while sophomore Katharine Cottone (Little Falls, N.J.) finished in seventh place with a time of 2:21.74.

The 200m dash was next, and Santos led the way once again for the River Hawks. She claimed second place with a time of 24.81, with freshman Amelia Stebe (Honolulu, Hawaii) behind her in sixth place with a 25.54 mark. Freshman Meredith Feener (Walpole, Mass.) was next in 18^th place with a time of 27.22, before freshman Anya Neira (Methuen, Mass.) finished in 25^th with a 27.72 mark. Freshman Haley Evans (Glastonbury, Conn.) competed as the only River Hawk in the 3,000m run, taking 42^nd with a time of 11:21.48 to close out the track events.

In the field events, the pole vault kicked it off, with sophomore Una Brice (Cork, Ireland) tying for second with a 3.35m mark. Senior Jules Gravier (Bronxville, N.Y.) also competed, finishing in eighth place with a mark of 3.20m. Senior Olamide Bamgbose (Fitchburg, Mass.) was the lone River Hawk in the long jump, leaping to a 4.33m mark for 23^rd place.

Senior Arlene Davila (Peabody, Mass.) led the way in the weight throw, claiming fourth place with a toss of 14.80m. Junior Julia Loescher (Peabody, Mass.) finished in 20^th with a mark of 11.02m. In the high jump, freshman Avery Pitts (Willington, Conn.) finished in third place with a 1.65m mark in her first career meet, while senior Fleur Balogh De Galantha (Grafton, Mass.) took seventh place with a 1.55m jump. Freshman Chloe Champagne (Brockton, Mass.) finished tied for 23^rd with a mark of 1.40m.

Graduate student Alexandria Grasso (North Reading, Mass.) led the way with a second-place performance in the triple jump, earning an 11.43m mark, before sophomore Nethica Auguste (Bridgewater, Mass.) took fourth with a 10.92m mark. Sophomore Nhyira Nkansah (Lowell, Mass,) finished in fourth in the shot put, warning a 10.95m mark, while Davila finished in ninth with a 10.01m toss to close out the Early Bird Invitational for the women.

At BU, junior Mary-Kate Finn ran unattached in the women's 5,000m race against tough competition, finishing in 68^th place with a time of 16:20.69.

The team will now have a break for the holidays, before returning to action on January 11 for the Suffolk Relays at the TRACK at new balance.