RESULTS

STORRS, Conn. – The UMass Lowell men's track and field team returned to Connecticut on Saturday for day two of the UConn Northeast Challenge.

Sophomore Derek Munroe (Tewksbury, Mass.) had an amazing day in the heptathlon, breaking the UMass Lowell record with 6,655 points to finish in third place overall. Freshman Brandon Riley (Weymouth, Mass.) finished just behind him in fourth with 6,517 points in his first collegiate decathlon. Junior Luke Stelmach (Sterling, Mass.) also competed for the River Hawks.

"The multis really showed up in harsh conditions and battled through these two days," said Associate Head Coach Ally Waruch. "Derek put a lot of things together and we've been working on getting that record."   

The day started with the decathlon 110m hurdles, and it was Stelmach that led the way with a personal-best time of 15.14 for fourth place. Riley was not far behind, taking sixth place with a personal-best 15.86 mark. Munroe claimed 11th place with a time of 16.73.

Up next for the decathlon was the discus throw, where Munroe shined with a second-place finish and 38.75m mark. Stelmach finished in seventh with a toss of 34.92m, while Riley took 10th with a 33.09m mark.

Munroe had a productive pole vault event, finishing in fifth place with a 4.20m mark, while Stelmach and Riley tied for eighth, clearing 3.60m. Munroe continued his momentum into the javelin, taking home second-place honors with a 50.22m mark, while Riley reached 46.13m for fifth place. Stelmach hit 41.82m to finish in 10th place.

The final decathlon event of the weekend was the 1,500m, and it was Munroe that was the top River Hawk finisher once again, claiming fourth place with a time of 4:47.11. Riley was next, earning a time of 5:10.36.   

On the track, sophomore Tristan O'Riorden broke his personal record in the 110m hurdles with a 15.31 mark and 13th-place finish. Freshman Nidlaire Olivier (Lowell, Mass.) finished just behind him in 14th place with a time of 15.83. Sophomore Basit Iddriss (Milford, Mass.) led the way in the 400m as the lone River Hawk, claiming 28th with a time of 51.30.

Moving on to the 800m, sophomore Bradley Diaz performed well, earning fifth place with a time of 1:55.09 as the only River Hawk in the event, before sophomore Alejandro Lynch zoomed to a fourth-place finish in the 400m hurdles with a time of 55.85. O'Riorden ws not far behind, claiming seventh with a 56.61 mark, while freshman Willem Eisl (Wachusett, Mass.) took 16th with a time of 1:02.39.

In the 200m, graduate student Tommy Jordan (Needham, Mass.) finished in 21st with a 22.04 mark, as graduate student Hunter Marino (Weymouth, Mass.) crossed the finish line just behind him in 24th place with a time of 22.11. Freshman Brett Earle (Baldwinville, Mass.) also competed, claiming 40th with a 22.50 mark in his first career outdoor 200m race.  

The 4x400m relay team of Earle, Lynch, Jordan, and Marino performed extremely well to cap off the track events, taking home the victory by two seconds and earning a time of 3:19.41.

In the field events, the high jump kicked it off, and it was senior Michael Makiej (Andover, Mass.) that led the way, clearing 1.88m for 12th place. Freshman Shane Exilhomme (Orlando, Fla.) also cleared 1.88m for 16th place.

Sophomore Peter Gardikas was the lone River Hawk in the hammer throw, reaching 39.02m for a personal record.

In the triple jump, sophomore Eythan Luxene (Brockton, Mass.) was the lone River Hawk, reaching 12.97m for 18th place.

Senior Luis Cadime (Lowell, Mass.) led the way in the shot put, finishing 16th with a 14.44m mark, as sophomore Mukanya Kazadi (Woburn, Mass.) claimed 19th with a 13.85m toss. Junior Jonathon Vixamar (Easton, Mass.) also competed, taking 29th with a distance of 12.48m.    

The pole vault was the last event to go final, as senior Maxwell Davis (Stoneham, Mass.) tied for ninth place with a 4.31m mark.  

"Overall, the whole team had solid performances," said Waruch. "We are still fine-tuning and preparing for conference, but we are heading in a good direction."

Next up, the majority of the River Hawks will stay in Lowell to host the George Davis Invitational on Saturday, April 20, while some of the squad will be down in Virginia for the Virginia Challenge that runs from Thursday, April 18 to Saturday, April 20.