BOSTON, Mass. – The UMass Lowell women's indoor track and field team competed in its third meet of January on Saturday, squaring off at the Bruce Lehane Scarlet and White Invite at Boston University in Boston, Mass.
"The third meet coming off break is when the team tends to turn the corner and we start to see some really outstanding performances, and that certainly happened today," said Head Coach Gary Gardner. "We can see it from all the different event groups which makes us excited for the next few weeks."
Junior Lena Takahashi (Holden, Mass.) kicked it off for the River Hawks, finishing 12th in the 5,000m run with a personal-best 19:43.23 mark. This led to the 60m hurdles prelims, where graduate student Fleur Balogh De Galantha (Grafton, Mass.) and freshman Nyrah Joseph (Billerica, Mass.) led the River Hawks with times of 9.21 and 9.26, respectively for 14th and 15th place. Sophomore Meredith Feener (Walpole, Mass.) was the lone River Hawk in the 60m prelims, taking 27th place with an 8.40 mark.
In the mile run, senior Raihana Yameogo (Dillsburg, Pa.) led the way with a 24th-place finish and personal-best 5:06.66 time. Senior Miana Caraballo (Methuen, Mass.) was just behind her in 26th with a time of 5:07.73. Freshman Krista Bettez (Gardner, Mass.) finished 34th with a 5:16.48 mark, before graduate student Delaney Swanson (Swanzey, N.H.) claimed 38th with a 5:29.48 mark.
Junior Jayani Santos (Tewksbury, Mass.) shined in the 400m dash, finishing fourth out of 31 finishers with a time of 55.38. Junior Bridget Geary (Lowell, Mass.) and junior Emily Burdick (Billerica, Mass.) finished consecutively in 21st and 22nd, respectively with times of 1:00.71 and 1:00.77, before senior Danielle Thompson (Groton, Mass.) finished in 24th with a 1:01.37 mark and freshman Kathryn Perrone (Washington, Mass.) claimed 31st with a 1:03.81 mark.
The 800m run came next, as junior Julie Condon ran a personal-best time of 2:18.70, placing in 20th, with sophomore Alyssa Fiorino (Billerica, Mass.) finishing in 27th at 2:29.22. Senior Nubia Pereira (Woburn, Mass.) was the first to cross the line for UMass Lowell in the 1,000m run, earning 12th place out of 31 runners at a personal-best time of 2:58.33. Sophomore Salma Boukhtam (Quincy, Mass.) was close by, claiming 14th place at 2:59.22, as sophomore Brenna Corcoran (Haverhill, Mass.) finished in 18th at 3:01.33, and senior Nia Mainer-Smith (Taunton, Mass.) in 20th place at 3:02.45. Freshman Gracie Richard (Weymouth, Mass.) (24th, 3:07.65) and sophomore Isabel McIntyre (Dover, N.H.) (29th, 3:09.96) also competed in the 1000m run.
Running in the 200m dash, Santos sprinted into the top-10 for a 10th place finish after clocking in at 24.81. In the 3,000m run, sophomore Georgia Brooks (Groton, Mass.) kept a good pace earning a new personal-best at 10:05.42 for 16th place. Following behind, senior Kylie Marion (Baldwinville, Mass.) claimed 23rd at a time of 10:15.72, and sophomore Lauren Long (Lunenburg, Mass.) finished in 25th at a personal best of 10:16.93. Rounding out the River Hawks, freshman Anna Fondakowski in 30th at 10:25.09, senior Mia Jones (Blacksburg, Va.) in 33rd at a personal best of 10:35.73 and freshman Addyson Hunt (Wilmington, Mass.) in 34th at 11:05.76.
Yameogo and Caraballo finished consecutively in the 1,500m run, with Yameogo finishing in 22nd punching in at 4:45.85 and Caraballo in 23rd at 4:46.24. Also running in the event were Bettez (34th, 4:54.60) and Swanson (38th, 5:09.24). A 4x400m relay finalized the invitational, as UMass Lowell had a small team compete, with Thompson, Burdick, Geary, and Roberts a part of the event, claiming 10th place overall after finishing at a time of 4:07.21.
In the field events, junior Nhyira Nkansah (Chelmsford, Mass.) led the team in the shot put with a 14th-place finish and toss of 12.27m. Balogh de Galantha followed her in 18th with an 11.51m toss, before freshman Alessandra Forgione (Peabody, Mass.) claimed 19th with an 11.25m mark. Senior Paige Murphy (Billerica, Mass.) finished in 23rd with a 9.86m mark. Sophomore Avery Pitts (Willington, Conn.) continued her great season with a first-place finish in the high jump, clearing 1.70m for the win. Balogh de Galantha finished fifth with a 1.60m jump.
Freshman Zoe Clarke (Dracut, Mass.) and Nkansah competed in the weight throw event, finishing back-to-back with Clarke in 21st at a mark of 10.90m and Nkansah in 22nd at a 10.63m mark. The triple jump followed, as freshman Nyrah Joseph (Billerica, Mass.) was the first on the board for the River Hawks, earning 10th with a jump of 10.85m. Junior Nethica Auguste (Bridgewater, Mass.) finished 11th at a 10.81m jump, and sophomore Anya Neira (Methuen, Mass.) was behind in 13th place with a jump of 9.88m. The last field event of the day was pole vault, where junior Úna Brice (Cork, Ireland) elevated to a 3.15m mark for 11th place and sophomore Jaden Kasule (Tewksbury, Mass.) claimed 14th place at a 2.85m mark.
The indoor team closes the month of January traveling back to Boston University to compete at the John Thomas Terrier Classic on January 30-31 in Boston, Mass.
