(Photo courtesy of UMass Lowell Athletics) ” Women’s athletes competing in the invitational”
Sarah Mahannah
Connector Editor
The UMass Lowell women’s and men’s track & field teams hosted the 2024 River Hawk Invitational. It took place at the TRACK at New Balance in Boston, Mass on January 27.
The women’s event started with weight throwing. Junior Arlene Davila came in hot with a 14.99m toss which would earn her a ninth-place finish. In the shot put event, graduate student Shataeya Smith earned an eighth-place finish, having an 11.67m toss. Senior Martina Nkwantah also had an impressive time at the shot put. She would land second place after throwing a 14.40m shot put. Many River Hawks did well in the jumping events. Senior Rebecca Crosier and junior Alexandria Grasso recorded top 20 finishes in the long jump event. Crosier had a 5.33m jump and Grasso had a 5.32m jump. Senior Erin Jensen claimed seventh place in the high jump, going 1.63m high.
All three participants in the running events finished within the top 20. The leader runner for the River Hawks with a time of 10.06 and placement of 16th was freshman Catrena Ghattas. Freshman Shayla Quill finished in 19th with a 10.22 mark, while sophomore Paige Murphy took 20th. In the 60-meter dash, freshman Jayani Santos took sixth with a time of 8.03. Senior Alexis Lefaivre finished in 18th with 8.15. The 500-meter event saw many runners break personal bests. Nia Mainer-Smith recorded a time of 1:19.62. Freshman Katharine Cottoneran a time of 1:21.27. Freshman Emily Burdick ended with 1:21.56. In the 800-meter run, sophomore Nubia Pereira crossed the line at 2:19.55, finishing 12th. Senior Rachel Thomas took fifth place in the 1000-meter run. She set a new personal record of 2:55.60.
The Men’s track and field team had an impressive performance at their meet as well. In the pole vault, senior Maxwell Davis leaped 4.35m, earning a spot in 11th place. Junior Michael Makiej took tenth after jumping a height of 1.95m. In the 800-meter run, junior Graham Stedfast was able to take home first place with a time of 1:50.96. Sophomore Basit Iddriss ended up in sixth place with a time of 1:53.62. In the 400-meter dash, sophomore Tristan O’Riorden finished 14th with a time of 49.02. Senior Thomas Jordan was not far behind, placing 19th with a time of 49.45. Sophomore Bradley Diaz and senior Hunter Marino led the River Hawks in the 500-meter run, taking sixth and seventh with times of 1:03.90 and 1:04.95. The River Hawks excelled in the long-distance events. Freshman Dennis Satchek, sophomore Michael Soucy and freshman Declan Mulligan all placed top 30 in the 1000 meter run, clocking in at 2.32.09, 2:33.83 and 2:34.78 respectively. The last event was the 1600-meter relay. Iddriss, Stedfast, Satchek and Diaz took fifth place with a time of 3:19.38. Lynch, Jordan, Marino, and Earle were just behind them by .41 seconds and took sixth.
The River Hawks are pushing forward and preparing for the America East Indoor Championship that will take place February 19 to February 20 at the TRACK at New Balance in Boston.
