LOWELL, Mass. – The UMass Lowell men's outdor track and field team competed in day one of the 2026 America East Outdoor Track and Field Championships on Saturday at the Cushing Field Complex at home.
The men's team delivered a strong performance throughout day one of the Outdoor Track and Field Championships and currently sits second on the leaderboard with 30 points. The River Hawks were led by a dominant showing in the 10,000m, where they totaled 22 points, while adding five points in the 3,000m steeplechase and three in the javelin throw.
New Hampshire leads the field with 33 points, while Binghamton sits in third with 29. UAlbany follows closely in fourth with 26 points, and UMBC sits in fifth with 22.
The River Hawks saw four runners qualify in the 1,500m preliminary event, as freshman Will Simard (Francestown, N.H.) kept great pace and finished in the top three for a third-place finish at a time of 3:56.63, and sophomore Jamie Lano (Strafford, N.H.) was close by in fifth with a time of 3:54.31. Graduate student Nate DeAngelo (Bristol, Conn.) and graduate student Andrew Benassi (Reading, Mass.) rounded out the qualifiers for UMass Lowell, as DeAngelo claimed 10th place after clocking in at 3:52.31 and Benassi took 11th at a time of 3:53.15. Also running in the event were sophomore Tyler Young (Marion, Mass.) (14th, 3:55.97) and freshman Joshua Toth (Milton, Mass.) (25th, 4:00.81), respectively.
In the 110m hurdles preliminary, senior Tristan O'Riorden hurdled his way into fourth-place after punching in at 15.02, qualifying for the final heat. Junior Brandon Riley (Weymouth, Mass.) and junior Nidlaire Olivier (Lowell, Mass.) also competed in the event, with Riley finishing in 10th at 15.47 and Olivier behind in 13th at 18.13. Sophomore Michael Fisher (Wallingford, Conn.) highlighted the 400m dash preliminary for the River Hawks, taking second place with a time of 48.03, narrowly missing first by a tenth of a second. Junior Anthony Massari (Dumont, N.J.) came next in 12th place at a time of 49.29, as senior Brett Earle (Baldwinville, Mass.) finished behind in 20th place at 50.69, respectively.
The 100m dash preliminary featured a strong showing from the River Hawks, as junior Evan Imasogie (Lowell, Mass.) placed fifth in 10.74. Junior Dan Kennedy (Tolland, Mass.) finished in seventh place at 10.58, while sophomore Michael Gyimah (Kumasi, Ghana) took eighth place at 10.67, with all three sprinters advancing to the final heat. Also placing in the top ten, sophomore Iyanuoluwapo Omisore (Lagos, Nigeria) claimed ninth place at 10.71 and sophomore Dmitrius Shearrion (Taunton, Mass.) finished in 10th place at 10.71. Senior Basit Iddriss (Milford, Conn.) qualified easily in the 800m preliminary, placing first after punching in at 1:50.71, while graduate student Graham Stedfast (Rowley, Mass.) claimed fourth place after running past the line at 1:52.19. Also running in the event were junior Dennis Satchek (Boston, Mass.) (14th place, 1:55.75) and sophomore Sean Kerin (Walpole, Mass.) (15th place, 1:55.82), respectively.
The River Hawks had two runners qualify for the final heat in the 400m hurdles preliminary, as O'Riorden continued his impressive day, clocking in at a time of 52.85 for second place, and senior Alejandro Lynch (Somerville, Mass.) took fifth place after crossing the line with a time of 54.28. The 3,000m steeplechase event was next, with senior Ethan Mashtare (St. Albans, Vt.) helping the team earn five points after a fourth-place finish with a time of 9:12.34. Junior David McKinnon (Bloomsbury, N.J.) ran hard, but was just shy of earning points, finishing in ninth place at 9:19.00. Freshman JJ Rooney (Danvers, Mass.) (12th, 9:36.77) and junior Nicolas Uzzo (East Bridgewater, Mass.) (16th, 9:53.91) also competed in the event.
The 200m dash preliminary was highlighted by two River Hawks qualifying for the final heat, with Gyimah sprinting to sixth place at a time of 21.79, and Shearrion taking eighth place after punching in at 21.88. Omisore (16th, 22:30) ran in the event as well, respectively. UMass Lowell jumped up the leaderboard following the 10,000m run, after graduate student Will Benoit (Fairhaven, Mass.) maintained a strong pace to earn first place, running past the line at 29:33.52 to collect 10 points for the team, and graduate student Jan Wouter Van Den Akker (Groningen, Netherlands) placed second with an exceptional finish at 29:34.16 to earn eight points for the team. Sophomore Isaac Henderson followed behind, claiming fifth place after clocking in at 30:26.16 to earn four points for the team. Graduate student Landen Vaillancourt (New Ipswich, N.H.) (9th, 30:39.33) and sophomore Dante Castellano (Nashua, N.H.) (10th, 30:43.56) rounded out the top ten, with junior Nicholas Marcotte (Hudson, N.H.) (13th, 31:05.38) and sophomore Jack Courtney (17th, 31:36.52) also running in the event.
The hammer throw kicked off the fielding events on day one, with freshman Kevin Vigneault (Jamesville, N.Y.) and freshman Reznor Rokicki (Loveland, Oh.) both competing, as Vigneault finished in 13th place at a 48.51m mark and Rokicki was behind in 15th place with a mark of 44.96m. Up next, junior Kuzey Kaya (Winchester, Mass.) was the first on the board for UMass Lowell in the long jump event, taking 12th out of 24 after leaping to a personal best mark of 6.81m. Also jumping in the event, freshman Rere Edokpolo (Manchester, N.H.) finished in 14th at a mark of 6.73m, Earle finished in 21st with a 6.32m mark, and Riley finished in 24th at a 5.51m mark, respectively. The men's javelin throw saw both River Hawk participants who competed earn points, as senior Derek Munroe (Tewksbury, Mass.) threw a 51.32m mark for seventh place and two points for the team, while graduate student Luke Stelmach (Sterling, Mass.) was right behind in eight place, tossing a personal best mark of 50.70m to earn a point for the team.
Munroe and Riley represented the River Hawks in the decathlon and sit atop the standings after day one. Munroe leads the way with 3,532 points, highlighted by a second-place finish in the 100m (11.34), third in the long jump (6.38m), first place in the shot put (13.73m), fourth in the high jump (1.78m), and a first-place finish in the 400m (51.34). Riley follows closely in second with 3,402 points, first place in the 100m (11.04), second in the long jump (6.51m), fourth in the shot put (11.30m), sixth in the high jump (1.75m), and fifth in the 400m (52.55).
The team looks ahead to the final day of the 2026 America East Outdoor Track and Field Championships on Sunday, May 10, at the Cushing Field Complex in Lowell, Mass.
