LOWELL, Mass. – The UMass Lowell women's track and field team competed in day two of the 2026 America East Outdoor Track and Field Championships on Sunday, concluding the event in seventh place with

"We had a ton of people score today in all different areas that we were not supposed to score, and we jumped up a couple places," said Head Coach Gary Gardner. "We are still so young. We are 80% freshman and sophomores, and these guys are learning how to compete, and that's what we talked about going into the indoor championships and outdoor championships, is that they need to learn how to compete like our team did when we were winning championships. They're learning and we are going to be pretty good next year, so I am really excited."

Senior Sarah Ross (Agawam, Mass.) was the first scorer for the team, snagging a point in the 1,500m run with her eighth-place finish and 4:33.56 mark. Junior Jayani Santos (Tewksbury, Mass.) was next in the 200m dash, finishing fourth for five points with a 24.07 mark.

Ross went on to gain another point for the team in the 5,000m run, finishing eighth once again with a 17:38.58 mark. However, it was graduate student Mary-Kate Finn (Nashua, N.H.) that led the way for the River Hawks, finishing in fourth place with a 17"07.91 mark to tally five points for the team.

The 4x800m relay team of sophomore Brenna Corcoran (Haverhill, Mass.), junior Katharine Cottone (Little Falls, N.J.), senior Raihana Yameogo (Dillsburg, Pa.) and sophomore Salma Boukhtam (Quincy, Mass.) added another point for the squad with an eighth-place finish and 9:22.63 mark. This led to the 4x400m relay where the unit of senior Danielle Thompson (Groton, Mass.), Santos, senior Maggie McInerney (Acton, Mass.) and junior Emily Burdick (Billerica, Mass.) finished in sixth place with a time of 3:55.60 for three points.

In the field events, junior Nhyira Nkansah (Chelmsford, Mass) was the lone scorer in the shot put, reaching 12.64m for eighth place and one point. Sophomore Avery Pitts (Willington, Conn.) then shined in the high jump, tying for third place with a 1.61m mark to earn five points, while graduate student Fleur Balogh de Galantha (Grafton, Mass.) earned 1.5 points for her tie for seventh place with a 1.61m mark.

Freshman Zoe Clarke (Dracut, Mass.) also scored for the River Hawks, finishing eighth in the discus throw with a personal-best 41.27m toss. This led to the final event of the day, the women's pole vault. Junior Úna Brice (Cork, Ireland) also broke a personal record, reaching 3.64m to finish in fifth place out of 16 and pick up four points.

In the heptathlon, both River Hawk competitors scored, with freshman Nyrah Joseph (Billerica, Mass.) leading the way with a fourth-place finish to earn five points. She earned a personal-best total of 4,362 heptathlon points throughout the weekend, earning personal records in the 800m (2:37.89) and 200m (26.32). Senior Paige Murphy (Billerica, Mass.) claimed seventh place in the heptathlon with 4,064 points to pick up two points for UMass Lowell. She earned personal-best marks in the javelin (26.37m) and 100m hurdles (15.96).