AE CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL

LOWELL, Mass. – The UMass Lowell track and field team is ready to compete and show off their talents at the 2025 America East Outdoor Track and Field Championship this weekend. The two-day event kicks off on Saturday, May 3^rd and a champion will be crowned on Sunday the 4^th. The meet will be streamed live on ESPN+.  

The men are looking for their third consecutive outdoor championship after winning in 2023 and last season with a total of 167 points, while the women are on the hunt for their first conference title in program history.

"Overall, our team has competed well this spring," said Head Coach Gary Gardner. "This team has a bit of a different make-up than the past few years in the fact that we are just a less experienced team. We have been able to see the growth week to week since January. So, it will be fun to see how we perform this weekend."

The men's squad has found much success, especially in the track events, as 14 runners rank top 10 in the conference in their respective events.    
 Senior Jan Wouter Van Den Akker (Groningen, Netherlands) leads the way as the top ranked 10,000m runner so far this spring, as he put up a school-record time of 28:46.34 at the Raleigh Relays on March 27.

Van Den Akker also ranks second in the conference in the 5,000m, collecting a personal-best time of 14:03.88 at Penn Relays just last week. Junior Sean Kennedy-Wonneberger is just behind him in the number three spot with a 14:12.86 mark at the Virginia Challenge back in mid-April. Graduate student Hunter Marion (Templeton, Mass.) is fifth with an outdoor personal record time of 14:23.36 at Penn Relays.

Wonneberger is another athlete that leads this team on the track and ranks in the top 10 in two events: the other being the 1,500m. He is second in the America East in the 1,500m by just over one second as he recorded a personal-best time of 3:46.81 back at the Friar Invitational on April 11. Junior Hatim Boukhtam (Abington, Mass.) joins him as the fourth-ranked 1,500m runner in the conference with his personal-best 3:48.65 mark from Raleigh Relays to kick off the season.

In the 400m hurdles, two River Hawks have been consistently dominant in juniors Tristan O'Riorden and Alejandro Lynch (Somerville, Mass.). O'Riorden ranks second in the conference with a 53.30 mark at the UMass Lowell George Davis Invitational on April 18, while Lynch broke his personal record at the same meet with a time of 53.58 to rank third in the America East. O'Riorden is also ranked 10^th in the 110m hurdles with a time of 15.32 at the Ed Daniels Invite at SNHU. Senior Luke Stelmach (Sterling, Mass.) leads the River Hawks in the 110m hurdles in seventh with a personal-best 15.25 mark at the UMass Lowell George Davis Invitational, while sophomore Nidlaire Olivier (Lowell, Mass.) sits in ninth with a time of 15.32 last week at the Ken O'Brien Pre-Conference Meet.

Senior Graham Stedfast (Rowley, Mass.) has also shined this season in the 800m, breaking his personal record at the Virginia Challenge and posting the third-best time in the conference at 1:49.12. Senior Andrew Benassi (Reading, Mass.) is with him in the top 10, claiming the seventh spot with a personal-best time of 1:52.14 at the Dalton Ebanks Invitational at George Davis on April 4.

Graduate student Joe Young (Dorchester, Mass.) has continued his great career in the 3,000m steeplechase, as he currently ranks fourth in the conference with his 9:09.30 mark at Raleigh Relays, while freshman Patrick Hall (Billerica, Mass.) will compete this weekend as the 10^th-ranked runner with a time of 9:28.08 at the Dalton Ebanks Invitational.

In the 100m dash, sophomore Daniel Kennedy (Tolland, Conn.) ranks seventh with his personal-best 10.61 mark at the Ed Daniels Invite, while freshman Iyanuoluwapo Omisore (Lagos, Nigeria) sits in ninth with his 10.63 mark at that same meet. In the 400m, freshman Michael Fisher (Wallingford, Conn.) ranks seventh with his time of 48.42 at the Dalton Ebanks Invitational.
Capping off the track events are the 4x100m and 4x400m relays, where the River Hawks rank third and fifth, respectively, with both marks coming at the UMass Lowell George Davis Invitational.

In the men's field events, 10 different athletes have top 10 performances this season, and graduate student James Kotowski (Stoneham, Mass.) leads with a whopping 74.09m javelin toss at the George Davis Invitational to sit atop the conference by more than 11 meters. Junior Derek Munroe (Tewksbury, Mass.) (52.92m) and freshman Miles Acchione (Mount Laurel, N.J.) (50.83m) rank ninth and 10^th, respectively.

The high jump trio of sophomore Shane Exilhomme (Orlando, Fla.), Stelmach and freshman Camren Allain (Carver, Mass.) has found success this spring, ranked consecutively from fourth to sixth. Exilhomme is fourth with a career-high 2.01m jump at the George Davis Invitational, Stelmach is fifth, clearing 2.00m for the first time at the Friar Invitational and Allain ranks sixth with a 1.96m mark at the Geroge Davis Invitational.

Munroe is ranked fifth in the pole vault this season, as he cleared 4.45m for an outdoor personal record at the Dalton Ebanks Invitational, while freshman Sawyer O'Riorden (Stow, Mass.) sits in eighth with a 4.30m mark at the George Davis Invitational.

Senior Ian Camerato (Mount Laurel, N.J.) is the lone ranked River Hawk in the discus throw, tossing a personal-best 48.53m at the George Davis Invitational to put himself sixth in the conference, while two athletes earned top 10 marks in the triple jump in graduate student Brandon Williams (Severn, Md.) and freshman Jack Shepherd. Williams earned an outdoor personal-best of 14.19m at the Geroge Davis Invitational to rank eighth, while Shepherd sits in 10^th with a 13.66m mark at the UMass Lowell Invitational.

For the women, sophomore Jayani Santos (Tewksbury, Mass.) has continued her amazing start to her career, holding the top spot in both the 200m and 400m dash. In the 200m, her 24.12 mark from Raleigh Relays is good for the conference lead, along with her personal-best 55.18 mark in the 400m from the Virginia Challenge.

Meanwhile, junior Nia Mainer-Smith (Taunton, Mass.) enters this years' championship with the America East's second-best time in the 800m, which is her 2:12.54 mark at the Virginia
Challenge.

Senior Sarah Ross (Agawam, Mass.) has also had another successful season, ranking within the top six of both the 1,500m and 5,000m runs. She is third in the 5,000m run with her outdoor-best time of 16:53.09 at the Friar Invitational and sixth in the 1,500m run with her 4:36.29 mark at the George Davis Invitational.  

Another athlete to watch throughout the weekend is graduate student Alexandria Grasso (North Reading, Mass.). She holds the conference's third-best time in the 100m hurdles this season, which is a personal-best 13.83 mark at the Virginia Challenge. She also succeeds in field events, as she is ranked second in the conference in the triple jump this year with her 11.98m leap at
the Ed Daniels Invite on April 14.

The duo of senior Fleur Balogh De Galantha (Groton, Mass.) and freshman Avery Pitts (Willington, Conn.) own the second and third spots, respectively, in the high jump. Balogh De Galantha ranks third with her 1.70m mark at the George Davis Invitational, while Pitts' 1.60m mark at the same meet gives her the number four spot.

In the pole vault, sophomore Úna Brice (Cork, Ireland) is tied for the seventh spot in the conference with her 3.40m mark at the George Davis Invitational, while sophomore Nhyira Nkansah (Chelmsford, Mass.) also ranks tied for seventh in the shot put, tossing a personal-best 12.60m mark at the Ed Daniels Invite.

The team is poised for a solid weekend of competition against conference foes, and the squad will look to add more hardware to the trophy case.

"Our main goal is to just compete and wherever we end up, we can be happy with the results," said Gardner.