RESULTS

STORRS, Conn. – The UMass Lowell women's track and field team competed in day two of the UConn Northeast Challenge on Saturday, hosted by Connecticut.

Sophomore Paige Murphy (Billerica, Mass.) closed out the heptathlon, starting with the long jump, where she finished 12th with a 4.88m mark. In the javelin, she reached 20.79m for 14th place, before claiming 10th in the 800m run with a time of 2:38.86. Overall, Murphy broke her heptathlon personal record, totaling 3,748 points for 14th place.

"The multis really showed up in harsh conditions and battled through these two days," said Associate Head Coach Ally Waruch.

In the track events, senior Ali Grasso (North Reading, Mass.) got them started as the lone River Hawk in the 100m hurdles. She ran to a 15.08 mark to take 19th place.

The 100m was next, with senior Madison Marsh (Dudley, Mass.) leading the way with a 19th-place finish and 12.33 mark. Freshman Jayani Santos (Tewksbury, Mass.) was not far behind, claiming 22nd place with a time of 12.35 in her first career 100m race. Senior Alexis Lefaivre (Newport, Vt.) also competed, taking 41st with a time of 12.94.

Freshman Katharine Cottone (Little Falls, N.J.) was the only River Hawk runner to compete in the 400m hurdles, claiming 25th place with a time of 1:09.83.  

In the field events, the shot put got the day started, as senior Martina Nkwantah (Pepperell, Mass.) led the way with a second-place finish and an outdoor personal-best mark of 14.54m. Graduate student Shataeya Smith (Malden, Mass.) claimed 20th place with an 11.99-meter toss, while freshman Nhyira Nkansah finished in 25th with an 11.59m mark.

Next was the triple jump and senior Rebecca Crosier (Shaftsbury, Vt.) finished 11th, reaching 11.33m, narrowly missing her personal best by .01m. Grasso also competed, taking 19th with a 10.98m mark, while freshman Nethica Auguste was just behind her in 19th with a distance of 10.79m.

Senior Erin Jensen (Brimfield, Mass.) represented the River Hawks in the high jump, collecting a 1.60m mark to finish tied for 10th place.

Capping off the day was junior Arlene Davila (Peabody, Mass.) in the hammer throw. She picked up a 44.41m mark and finished in 25th place.  

"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.