WORCESTER, Mass. & NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The UMass Lowell men's and women's track and field team competed in day two of the New England Championships at Holy Cross Saturday evening, before taking part in the Yale Elite Last Chance Meet in New Haven, Connecticut that same evening.

"Coming off conference, you can never be sure what to expect," said Head Coach Gary Gardner. "Overall, it was a positive and a few great performances made it a good weekend." 

Freshman Shane Exilhomme (Orlando, Fla.) got the day started at the New England Championships, taking on the high jump and finishing with a tie for seventh place. He cleared 1.91m (6' 3.25") as the lone River Hawk in the field events. 

Sophomore Miana Caraballo (Methuen, Mass.) was the first runner, competing in the women's 1,500m race, taking 29th with a time of 4:55.10. 

The men were up next in the 1,500m race with four competitors. Senior Joe Young (Dorchester, Mass.) led the way with a second-place performance and a personal-best time of 3:49.93. Junior Nate DeAngelo (Bristol, Conn.) was behind him in 12th place, earning a time of 3:56.82, just missing out on his personal record. Junior Will Benoit (Fairhaven, Mass.) was next, claiming 23rd place with a personal-best 4:00.67 mark, before sophomore Frederick Coleman (Methuen, Mass.) finished in 30th with a time of 4:06.13. 

Next up was the women's 800m, where sophomore Nubia Pereira (Woburn, Mass.) crossed the finish line in seventh place out of 30 runners with a time of 2:16.12. Sophomore Nia Mainer-Smith (Taunton, Mass.) also competed, finishing in 19th place with a 2:20.07 mark. 

The men found success in the 800m race, as junior Andrew Benassi (Reading, mass.) won the event with a personal-best time of 1:52.45, while sophomore Hatim Boukhtam (Abington, Mass.) also impressed with a top-five finish and 1:54.09 mark. Sophomore Basit Iddriss (Milford, Mass.) also competed, taking 17th place with a time of 1:56.69.

In the women's shot put, senior Martina Nkwantah continued her successful season with a first-place finish, almost reaching her personal best with a 15.34m (50' 4") mark. Freshman Nhyira Nkansah also competed, collecting a 11.08m (36' 4.25") mark. 

Moving back to the track for the men's 200m, it was graduate student Thomas Jordan (Needham, Mass.) as the lone River Hawk, taking home eighth place with a time of 22.28. 

The men's steeplechase concluded the New England Championships, as sophomore Joshua Rivers (Manchester, N.H.) led the way with a 14th-place finish and personal-best time of 9:41.23. Freshman Timothy Walsh (Auburn, Mass.) was just behind him with a 9:53.87 mark for 16th place, while junior Timothy Glowik (Danvers, Mass.) finished in 18th place with a time of 9:57.12. 

From the men's steeplechase at Holy Cross to the men's steeplechase opening up the action at Yale, graduate student Joseph Walsh (Auburn, Mass.) got the win with a 9:10.68 mark, while sophomore Ethan Mashtare (St. Albans, Vt.) fiished fourth with a time of 9:32.25. 

The day ended with both teams' 5k races, with the women going off first. Sophomore Mary-Kate Finn (Nashua, N.H.) was the lone River Hawk in the race, finishing seventh with a time of 16:40.12. 

For the men, it was junior Jan Wouter Van Den Akker (Groningen, Netherlands) that led the way with a third-place finish and personal-best time of 14:09.61, as sophomore Sean Kennedy-Wonneberger (East Haddam, Conn.) took home 10th place with a 14:27.42 mark to conclude the day and weekend.