LOWELL, Mass – The UMass Lowell women's track and field team competed in two meets Saturday, splitting up for the Raleigh Relays at North Carolina State University and the UMass Lowell Invitational at home in Lowell.

In Raleigh, junior Nia Mainer-Smith (Taunton, Mass.) kicked it off with a personal-best time of 2:14.52 in the 800m run, claiming 113^th place. In the 200m dash, sophomore Jayani Santos (Tewksbury, Mass.) impressed with an 18^th-place performance out of 126 total finishers. She crossed with a time of 24.12, while graduate student Alexandria Grasso (North Reading) earned a personal-best time of 25.90 for 110^th place.

"Today was a great way to finish the trip," said Head Coach Gary Gardner. "Jayani and Ali were right on their personal-bests for the 200m following the great races yesterday, and Nia had a great start."

Over in Lowell, the River Hawks fought off rain and snow. Four River Hawks took part in the 100m hurdles, as senior Fleur Balogh De Galantha (Grafton, Mass.) led the way with a fifth-place performance and 16.92 mark, finishing just before junior Paige Murphy (Billerica, Mass.), who claimed sixth with a time of 17.42. Sophomore Shayla Quill (Andover, Mass.) (17.98) and freshman Chloe Champagne (Brockton, Mass.) (18.89) finished in eighth and 10^th place, respectively.

In the 1,500m run, the team had 10 runners and four in the top 11. Graduate student Rachel Thomas (Perry Hall, Md.) ran unattached and finished second with a time of 4:56.33. Junior Kylie Marion (Baldwinville, Mass.) was next, taking ninth place with a 5:03.82 mark, followed by junior Miana Caraballo (Methuen, Mass.) in 10^th with a 5:04.71 mark and sophomore Emma Eagan (Danvers, Mass.) in 11^th at 5:05.64.

Freshman Amelia Stebe (Honolulu, Hawaii) won the 100m dash, earning a time of 12.64 for the victory. Freshman Meredith Feener (Walpole, Mass.) was not far behind in fourth place, running to a 13.25 mark, before Quill claimed seventh with a time of 14.50.

Thomas ran unattached in the 400m run as well, finishing in first with a 1:01.11 mark, before sophomore Emily Burdick (Billerica, Mass.) claimed second with a time of 1:02.05. Freshman Brenna Corcoran (Haverhill, Mass.) earned a 1:04.54 mark for fifth place, while sophomore Katharine Cottone (Little Falls, N.J.) finished in seventh with a time of 1:05.41 and freshman Alyssa Fiorino (Billerica, Mass.) claimed 10^th place with a 1:09.59 mark. Sophomore Bridget Geary (Lowell, Mass.) followed up the 400m run with the 400m hurdles, finishing third with a time of 1:14.95. Feener then competed in the 200 dash as the lone River Hawk, finishing third with a time of 27.02.

In the 3,000m run, junior Raihana Yameogo (Dillsburg, Pa.) got the victory, running to a time of 10:59.83, winning by more than 10 seconds. Sophomore Lena Takahashi (Holden, Mass.) also competed and finished in fifth place with a time of 11:28.21.

The hammer throw kicked off the field events, as junior Julia Loescher (Peabody, Mass.) led the way with a third-place performance and 41.65m mark. Joyce Nabagereka claimed sixth with a personal-best 37.14m mark. Nabakereka then led the River Hawks in the discus, throwing 32.90m for third place. Sophomore Nhyira Nkansah (Chelmsford, Mass.) finished in fourth with a mark of 29.29m. In the shotput, Nkansah finished second with an 11.56m mark, as Nabagereka was just behind her in third with a toss of 10.71m.

Balogh De Galantha finished third in the long jump with a 5.10m leap, before freshman Anya Neira (Methuen, Mass.) claimed sixth with a 4.98m mark and Murphy finished seventh with a jump of 4.90m. Champagne also competed, finishing 11^th with a 4.72m mark before senior Olamide Bamgbose (Fitchburg, Mass.) took 13^th with a 4.45m mark. Freshman Avery Pitts was the lone River Hawk in the high jump, clearing 1.50m for third place overall.

"The team did extremely well for the conditions they were competing in," said Associate Head Coach Allyson Waruch.