AE Championship Central

LOWELL, Mass. – The UMass Lowell men's and women's track and field teams are ready to compete at home when they host the 2026 America East Outdoor Championships this weekend. The two-day event kicks off on Saturday, May 9, and a champion will be crowned on Sunday, May 10. The meet will be streamed live on ESPN+.

The men are looking for their third outdoor championship in the last four seasons after winning in 2023 and 2024, while the women are on the hunt for their first conference title in program history.

So far this season, the men's squad has found success in a variety of events, both on the track and in the field. The River Hawks have recorded 32 top-10 marks across the America East performance lists this season. Graduate student Jan Wouter van den Akker (Groningen, Netherlands) leads the way, holding the conference's top mark in both the 5,000m and 10,000m runs.

In the 5,000m, he owns a school-record time of 13:52.52 from the Bryan Clay Invitational, leading the America East by more than 19 seconds, while his 10,000m mark of 28:57.87 leads the conference by just under 30 seconds.

Sophomore Isaac Henderson sits just behind van den Akker in the 5,000m rankings, ranking third with a time of 14:12.36, while graduate student Will Benoit (Fairhaven, Mass.) enters the weekend sixth at 14:16.37.

Benoit is also fourth in the conference in the 10,000m with a time of 30:09.30, while sophomore Dante Castellano continues his strong sophomore campaign, entering the weekend seventh with a 30:31.72 mark.

The multi-event athletes continued their league dominance this spring, as senior Derek Munroe (Tewksbury, Mass.) leads the conference in the decathlon after breaking the UMass Lowell record with 6,935 points. Junior Brandon Riley (Weymouth, Mass.) is not far behind with the conference's second-best mark of 6,566 points. Munroe is also eighth overall in the pole vault (4.65m) and seventh in the javelin (57.31m), while Riley ranks seventh in the 110m hurdles (15.09) and 10th in the long jump (7.05m).

Sophomore Michael Fisher (Wallingford, Conn.) is another athlete to watch in the 400m dash, ranking third this season with an impressive 47.41 mark. In the 400m hurdles, senior Alejandro Lynch (Somerville, Mass.) also ranks third with a time of 52.51, while Tristan O'Riorden sits sixth in both the 400m hurdles (53.68) and 110m hurdles (15.02). Lynch additionally ranks seventh in the 110m hurdles with a time of 15.09.

In the 800m run, graduate student Graham Stedfast (Rowley, Mass.) leads the River Hawks with the conference's third-best mark at 1:50.04, while senior Basit Iddriss (Milford, Mass.) ranks eighth with a time of 1:51.60.

Two River Hawks own the fourth- and fifth-best marks in the 1,500m run, with freshman Will Simard (Francestown, N.H.) ranking fourth at 3:49.22 and graduate student Andrew Benassi (Reading, Mass.) close behind in fifth at 3:49.66.

Two more sprinters have collected top-10 conference times this season, including sophomore Iyanuoluwapo Omisore (Lagos, Nigeria), who ranks sixth in both the 100m and 200m dashes after running times of 10.62 and 21.61, respectively. Sophomore Michael Gyimah (Kumasi, Ghana) also ranks in the top 10 of the 100m, sitting eighth with a time of 10.63.

In the 3,000m steeplechase, senior Ethan Mashtare (St. Albans, Vt.) picked up the conference's third-best mark this season with a time of 9:11.65, while junior David McKinnon (Bloomsbury, N.J.) ranks seventh at 9:21.91.

Back in the field events, freshman John Kivlan (Chelmsford, Mass.) leads the way in the high jump, ranking sixth with a clearance of 1.95m, while graduate student Luke Stelmach (Sterling, Mass.) cleared 1.90m to rank ninth in the conference.

In the throws, freshman Reznor Rokicki (Loveland, Ohio) enters the weekend ranked third in the discus with a mark of 50.86m, while graduate student Ian Camerato (Mount Laurel, N.J.) sits eighth at 48.43m. Rokicki also ranks ninth in the shot put with a throw of 15.42m.

Freshman Kenneth Kalvinek (Sutton, Mass.) leads the River Hawks in the shot put with the conference's fifth-best mark at 16.62m, while fellow freshman Kevin Vigneault (Jamesville, N.Y.) ranks seventh at 16.24m to round out the top-10 individual men.

In the relays, the River Hawk men rank second in both the 4x100m (40.85) and 4x400m (3:12.59), while also sitting fifth in the 4x800m relay (7:38.56).

On the women's side, the River Hawks have collected 12 top-10 marks this season, along with two 11th-seed marks heading into championship weekend.

Junior Jayani Santos (Tewksbury, Mass.) is an athlete to watch for the women after continuing her impressive sprint career this season. She enters the weekend ranked second in the conference in the 200m dash after running a time of 23.99 at the Virginia Challenge on April 17, narrowly missing the top spot by .01 seconds.

Another River Hawk to highlight is graduate student Mary-Kate Finn (Nashua, N.H.), who has put together a stellar career in both cross country and track and field. She enters this weekend ranked third in the America East in both the 5,000m and 10,000m runs with times of 16:13.24 and 34:59.94, respectively. Freshman Anna Fondakowski ranks 11th in the 5,000m with a time of 17:16.23, while junior Nethica Auguste (Bridgewater, Mass.) sits 11th in the triple jump after reaching 11.23m.

Rounding out the top-10 athletes on the track is junior Emily Burdick (Billerica, Mass.), who ranks 10th in the 800m after running 2:16.06 this season.

Freshman Alessandra Forgione (Peabody, Mass.) is the highest-ranked River Hawk in the field events after an impressive start to her collegiate career, ranking second in the javelin with her school-record toss of 45.00m.

Sophomore Avery Pitts (Willington, Conn.) sits third in the high jump rankings with a clearance of 1.71m. Graduate student Fleur Balogh de Galantha (Grafton, Mass.) follows in seventh with a mark of 1.66m.

Junior Úna Brice (Cork, Ireland) continues to provide a strong presence in the pole vault, tying her personal best with a clearance of 3.40m to rank sixth in the conference heading into the weekend. Freshman Zoe Clarke (Dracut, Mass.) also earned the 10th seed in the discus with a mark of 39.75m.

Finally, in the heptathlon, the River Hawks account for four of the 11 athletes with qualifying marks this season. Freshman Nyrah Joseph (Billerica, Mass.) ranks second with 4,226 points, while senior Paige Murphy (Billerica, Mass.) sits just behind her in third with 3,801 points.

Both teams are set up nicely for strong performances this weekend and are eager to compete for conference titles in front of a home crowd. Saturday's events will begin at 10:00 a.m., while Sunday's action gets underway at 8:30 a.m.