CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The UMass Lowell women's outdoor track and field team traveled to MIT on Thursday afternoon for the MIT Final Qualifier at Steinbrenner Stadium, where several athletes turned in top performances.
"We had an absolutely fabulous day," said Head Coach
Gary Gardner. "Coming off of conference, you'd think there might be a let down. Instead, the majority of our kids achieved personal bests. I am really proud of them continuing to improve."
Sophomore
Lauren Long (Lunenburg, Mass.) got it all started as the lone River Hawk in the 3,000m steeplechase, finishing in third place out of eight runners with a personal-best time of 11:03.20. The first round of the 100m hurdles followed, where freshman
Nyrah Joseph (Billerica, Mass.) qualified for finals with a 15.04 mark but did not compete in the final round.
Senior
Sarah Ross (Agawam, Mass.) was impressive in the 1,500m, breaking a personal record with a 4:32.36 mark to finish second out of 10 runners as the UMass Lowell representative.
The 800m was next, and two River Hawks competed. Senior
Raihana Yameogo (Dillsburg, Pa.) led the duo in eighth place out of 12 with a 2:15.39 mark, before Long claimed 12
th with a time of 2:23.92.
The 5,000m run concluded the track events, and it was graduate student
Delaney Swanson (Swanzey, N.H) that led the River Hawks with a second place finish out of six runners, earning a personal-best time of 17:45.20. Junior
Emma Eagan (Danvers, Mass.) also competed and finished fifth with a 17:53.20 mark.
In the field events, freshman
Zoe Clarke (Dracut, Mass.) got it started with a seventh-place performance in a field of 14 throwers, earning a 40.36m mark. Following that was junior
Úna Brice (Cork, Ireland) as the lone pole vaulter, finishing fifth out of six with a 3.44m mark.
Next, freshman
Alessandra Forgione (Peabody, Mass.) broke her own school record in the javelin, reaching 46.44m on her fifth attempt to lead the field of nine and win the event.
The high jump concluded the field events, as graduate student
Fleur Balogh de Galantha (Grafton, Mass.) represented the River Hawks in a four way a tie out for third place of 12 total competitors and a 1.61m mark.