BOSTON, Mass. – The UMass Lowell women's track and field team put forth their best effort on the final day of the 2026 America East Indoor Track and Field Championships at Boston University's Track & Tennis Center, finishing in eighth place with 46 points.
"I was just happy because we're really young, and more than half of the team are freshmen or sophomores, and they fought all weekend," said Head Coach Gary Gardner. "That's what we talked about this weekend. We are going to be a good team and a much better one, but we wanted to fight hard in indoor track and field, and honestly, I was just as proud of the women's team as I was the men's. I know we're headed in the right direction, and I know we have the right athletes. We'll piece it together here in the next year or two."
The fielding events started the day, as sophomore Avery Pitts (Willington, Conn.) leaped to a second-place finish with a 1.65m mark in the high jump event, earning eight points for the team. Graduate student Fleur Balogh De Galantha (Grafton, Mass.) followed for the River Hawks in 10th place, jumping for a 1.60m mark. Competing in the shot put event, freshman Alessandra Forgione (Peabody, Mass.) threw for a personal-best mark of 11.68m for 11th place, and junior Nhyira Nkansah (Chelmsford, Mass.) finished in 14th at a 11.42m mark. In the triple jump event, junior Nethica Auguste (Bridgewater, Mass.) posted an 11.23m mark for 15th place, and freshman Nyrah Joseph (Billerica, Mass.) finished in 20th place with a mark of 10.83m.
In the running events, graduate student Sarah Ross (Agawam, Mass.) and sophomore Salma Boukhtam (Quincy, Mass.) stayed attached in the one-mile run, as Ross finished in 12th at 5:02.51, and Boukhtam finished at a personal-best time of 5:04.69 for 15th place. Also competing in the event was freshman Krista Bettez (Gardner, Mass.) (25th, 5:20.46), respectively. Junior Jayani Santos (Tewksbury, Mass.) shined in the 400m dash final, securing the top spot for a first-place finish after clocking in at a personal-best time of 54.18. Her efforts earned 10 points for the team.
The 800m event was next for the River Hawks, with junior Emily Burdick (Billerica, Mass.) and sophomore Brenna Corcoran finishing back-to-back as both runners were just shy of earning placement points. Burdick claimed ninth place at 2:16.87, and Corcoran took 10th at a personal-best time of 2:17.07. Also running in the event were senior Raihana Yameogo (12th, 2:17.58) and junior Katharine Cottone (17th, 2:19.78), respectively.
Freshman Anna Fondakowski was the first to cross for UMass Lowell in the 3,000m event, finishing in 15th place with a personal-best time of 10:09.65, with senior Kylie Marion (Baldwinville, Mass.) (16th, 10:12.40) and sophomore Lauren Long (Lunenburg, Mass.) (17th, PR - 10:14.96). Graduate student Delany Swanson (Swanzey, N.H.) followed in 22nd place at a personal-best time of 10:19.15, and seniors Mia Jones (Blacksburg, Va.) and Miana Caraballo (Methuen, Mass.) finished consecutively, with Jones in 26th at a personal-best time of 10:33.23, and Caraballo in 27th at 10:35.02. Sophomore Selena Wood (Abington, Mass.) (30th, PR - 10:39.54) and graduate student Kaitlyn Stevens (Oxford, Mass.) (36th, 11:24.60) also ran in the event, respectively.
UMass Lowell competed with a specific group in the 4x800 relay, as the team of senior Nubia Pereira (Woburn, Mass.), Julie Condon, Corcoran, and Burdick finished in sixth place after punching in at 9:18.52, earning three points from the event. The last event of the indoor track and field championships was the 4x400 relay, and a team of junior Bridget Geary (Lowell, Mass.), senior Danielle Thompson (Groton, Mass.), Cottone and Santos competed for the River Hawks, finishing in seventh place at 3:59.31 to earn two points for the team.
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.
