BOSTON, Mass. – The UMass Lowell men's track and field team secured the 2026 America East Indoor Track and Field Championships on Saturday afternoon at Boston University's Track & Tennis Center, marking their first title since 2023. 

"It's hard because sometimes you'll come out on the good end of this or the bad end, and when you come out on the good end, it all feels worth it through the work, time and energy put in by the team," said Head Coach Gary Gardner. "The team did a great job all weekend."

River Hawks earned 172.5 team points, with the indoor track and field championship race remaining tight until the very last event. Exceptional performances and personal records led the team to 12 individual championships and a top-three relay finish, strengthening their contention for the title.

The heptathlon wrapped up on day two as senior Derek Munroe (Tewksbury, Mass.) and junior Brandon Riley (Weymouth, Mass.) competed in the 60m hurdles first. Riley earned a second-place finish at 8.28, while Munroe claimed fourth place at a personal-best time of 8.69. Next was the pole vault event where Munroe soared to a 4.60m mark for second place, as Riley took fifth place after vaulting for a 3.80m mark. Munroe led the way in the last event of the heptathlon, earning first place after clocking in at a personal-best time of 2:43.50, and Riley finished in seventh place with a personal-best time of 2:52.82. Overall in the heptathlon, Munroe competed hard, securing a second-place finish after totaling 5301 points, earning eight points for the team, and Riley was behind in third place with 5232 points, also collecting points for the team with six.

The one-mile run opened the running events as freshman Will Simard (Francestown, N.H.) ran well for UMass Lowell, claiming a third-place finish with a time of 4:10.90 for six team points, as graduate student Andrew Benassi (Reading, Mass.) finished behind in fourth place at 4:11.06, earning five points for the team. Sophomore Jamie Lano (Strafford, N.H.) was close on placement points, finishing in 10th place at a personal-best time of 4:13.82, while freshman Joshua Toth (Milton, Mass.) (14th, PR - 4:16.53) also competed in the event. Next, Senior Tristan O'Riorden and Riley ran in the 60m hurdles final, as Riley posted a personal-best time of 8.21 to earn third place for six team points, while O'Riorden was directly behind in fourth place with a personal-best time of 8.26, earning five points for the team.

In the 400m dash, sophomore Michael Fisher (Wallingford, Conn.) gave his all, clocking in at a personal-best time of 47.41 for a second-place finish, earning eight points for the team. Senior Alejandro Lynch (Somerville, Mass.) competed in the 500m dash, finishing in fourth place after punching in at 1:03.79, collecting five team points. Two River Hawks advanced to the 60m dash final, as junior Dan Kennedy (Tolland, Conn.) claimed fifth place at 6.89 for four team points, and junior Evan Imasogie (Lowell, Mass.) took sixth place at 6.91, earning three points for the team. 

Freshman Jacob Szalewicz (Marblehead, Mass.) was the first to cross for UMass Lowell in the 800m event, claiming fifth place at a time of 1:51.57 for four team points, while junior Dennis Satchek (Boston, Mass.) finished in eighth place at a personal-best time of 1:52.80, earning one point. Senior Basit Iddriss (Milford, Conn.) was just shy of placement points after finishing in ninth place at 1:52.80, and sophomore Tyler Young (Marion, Mass.) also competed taking 16th place at 1:57.34. In the 200m dash event, sophomore Iyanuoluwapo Omisore (Lagos, Nigeria) claimed fifth place at 21.68, earning four points for the team.  

The River Hawks had five runners in the top-eight finishers of the 3,000m run, as graduate student Jan Wouter Van Den Akker (Groningen, Netherlands) captured a first-place finish with a time of 8:14.99 for 10 team points, while sophomore Devin Moreau (Tyngsboro, Mass.) finished in second place after clocking in at 8:16.10, earning eight points for the team. Simard was next in sixth place at 8:19.85 for three team points, with freshman Will Conklin (Danvers, Mass.) taking seventh place at a personal-best time of 8:20.08 for two team points and graduate student Will Benoit (Fairhaven, Mass.) in eighth place with a time of 8:21.48, earning one point for the team. Graduate student Nate DeAngelo (Bristol, Conn.) (9th, 8:22.37) and sophomore Patrick Hall (Billerica, Mass.) (12th, 8:28.32) were both close to collecting placement points in the event. 

A set group competed for UMass Lowell in the 4x800 relay, as a team of Benassi, Lano, Young, and Satchek finished in fourth place after punching in at 7:38.56, earning five team points. The final event of the day was the men's 4x400 relay as UMass Lowell had a team of O'Riorden, Lynch, Iddriss, and Fisher compete hard, securing a second-place finish with a time of 3:12.59, helping collect eight points for the team.  

In the field events, sophomore Camren Allain (Carver, Mass.) had a stellar performance in the high jump, finishing in second place after jumping for a personal-best mark of 2.00m, earning eight points for the team. Freshman Rere Edokpolo (Manchester, N.H.) jumped in the event as well, tying for eighth place at a mark of 1.85m, collecting half a point for the team. The shot put event came next with freshman Kenny Kalvinek (Sutton, Mass.) gaining early success, as the thrower earned third place after launching for a personal-best mark of 16.62m, collecting six points for the team. Freshman Kevin Vigneault (Jamesville, N.Y.) finished in fifth place with a mark of 15.89m, earning five points for the team, while graduate student Ian Camerato (Mount Laurel, N.J.) just missed out on placement points, claiming ninth place at a 15.05m mark. Also competing was freshman Reznor Rokicki (Loveland, Oh.) finishing in 14th at 14.44m.  

The River Hawks will get some time off before returning on Friday, March 6, for the New England Championships in Boston, Mass. at the Reggie Lewis Center.