BOSTON, MA – Senior Martina Quandach (Pepperell, Mass.) won the school record in the shot put as the UMass Lowell women’s track and field team put on an outstanding performance Saturday at the Suffolk Ice Breaker at TRACK in New Balance.
“I was really pleased with how hard the team played today,” said Associate Head Coach Ally Waruch. “Most of the team have had a lot of work done over the last couple of weeks and they certainly had to work on it today.”
Senior Alexandria Grasso (North Reading, Mass.) started it off with a win in the 60-meter hurdles, posting a time of 8.89.
Five runners finished the mile in the top 20 of the 68 finishers. Sophomore Mary-Kate Finn led the way with a third-place finish and personal-best 4:59.23, while senior Mary Youdd (Northampton, Mass.) was right behind her in fifth with a time of 5:05.52. Sophomore Miana Caraballo (Methuen, Mass.) was the final River Hawk in the top 10 with a seventh-place finish and a time of 5:06.15. Senior Hannah Doherty (Billerica, Mass.) wasn’t far behind, placing 12th in 5:12.18, ahead of second Kylie Marion (Baldwinville, Mass.) finished the race in 20th place with a time of 5:20.57.
Sophomore Nia Miner-Smith (Taunton, Mass.) (1:01.18) and freshman Emily Burdick (Billerica, Mass.) finished 11th and 13th in the 400 meters, respectively, while second Nubia Pereira (Woburn, Mass.) finished seventh in the 1,000-meter run.
Freshman Jayani Santos ran a personal best in the 200m, winning the event with a time of 25.03.
In the 3k, two River Hawks took top-10 finishes, as sophomores Mia Jones (Blacksburg, Va.) and junior Vivian Mack (Randolph, Mass.) earned seventh and 10th place, respectively. Jones came through with a time of 11:13.35, while Mack clocked 11:18.79.
In the 1,600-meter medley relay, the team of sophomores Alejandro Lynch, Grasso, Santos and graduate student Hunter Marino (Weymouth, Mass.) won the event with a time of 3:36.8.
“It was good to see Jayani PR in the 200, get a win, then come back and run a strong leg and win the medley relay,” Waruch said.
Nkwantah’s record performance in the shot put was good for seventh place in the event as she cleared 16.56m. Inferior Arlen Davila (Peabody, Mass.) also competed in the event, placing 11th with a throw of 14.10m. Nkwantah also competed in the shot put, capping off her amazing day with a second place finish and throw of 14.10m. Graduate student Shataeya Smith (Malden, Mass.) also participated in the shot put that took 10th place and reached 11.56m.
“Martina made no secret of wanting a big PR and new school record this meet,” Waruch said. “It’s exciting to see her really start to get to a new level with her throws.”
In the long jump, seniors Rebecca Crosier (Shaftsbury, Vt.) (5.45m) and Wonuola Ashaju (Lagos, Nigeria) (5.33m) had consecutive sixth and seventh place finishes, respectively. Nethica Auguste competed well in the triple jump for the River Hawks, earning fifth place with a jump of 11.03 meters. Senior Erin Jensen (Brimfield, Mass.) turned in an impressive third-place performance in the high jump, clearing 1.60m.
The River Hawks will then travel to Boston University on January 20th to compete in the Battle of Beantown.