KINGSTON, RI –
The UMass Lowell women’s track and field team traveled to the University of Rhode Island on Saturday, competing in the URI Coaches Invitational for their final meet before the America East Indoor Championships.
“Today was a good tune-up day for conference,” said Associate Head Coach Ally Waruch. “A lot of people are cleaning up some technical stuff and looking prepared for conference competition.”
In track and field, the River Hawks had two runners finish in the top five in the freshman 400 meters Katharine Cottone (Little Falls, NJ) and Bridget Geary. Cottone was the first to cross, earning third place in 1:02.38. Geary wasn’t far behind, finishing fifth with a time of 1:03.20.
Freshman Jayani Santos (Tewksbury, Mass.) continued to impress as she competed in the 60m and finished second in a personal best time of 7.72.
“Jayani showed great range with a great 60 today after getting PRs in the 200m and 400m last week,” said Waruch.
Inferior Vivian Mack (Randolph, Mass.) competed in the 1K, posting a time of 3:16.05 and placing 14th, while a freshman Lena Takahashi (Holden, Mass.) competed in the 3K, finishing 17th in a personal best 11:33.55.
In field events, senior Martina Quandach she kept her momentum going in the shot put, winning the event with a toss of 15.15m. Freshman Nhyira Nkansah also competed well, finishing 12th with a personal best distance of 11.94m. Nkwantah also performed well in the weight throw, claiming sixth place with a throw of 15.52m. Inferior Arlen Davila (Peabody, Mass.) also competed in the shot put (19th, 13.52m) along with graduate student Shataeya Smith (Malden, Mass.) (32nd, 11.28m). Elderly Alexandria Grasso (North Reading, Mass.) and Rebecca Crosier (Shaftsbury, Vt.) impressed in the long jump, finishing back-to-back in third and fourth place. Grasso reached 5.48m, just over Crozier by 0.01m.
“Martina continued to show consistency on both shots and was able to hold a long shot at all times,” Waruch said.
In the high jump, freshman Catrina Ghattas (Pembroke, Mass.) tied her personal best with a leap of 1.45m to earn a tie for 14th place as the lone River Hawk in the event. Three River Hawks rounded out the fields in the pole vault. Freshman Una Brice (Cork, Ireland) was the highest placed, placing 14th and clearing 3.20m. Inferior Jules Gravier (Bronxville, NY) and junior Madison Sanchez (Amesbury, Mass.) finished 22nd and 23rd back-to-back as Gravier cleared 3.05m and Sanchez cleared 2.90m.
The River Hawks will then compete in the 2024 America East Indoor Track and Field Championships at TRACK at New Balance on Monday and Tuesday, February 19th and 20th.