LOWELL, Mass. – School and personal records were broken on Saturday as the UMass Lowell track and field team kicked off the 2022-23 indoor campaign with two meets, traveling to Boston University for the Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener and to the Reggie Lewis Center for the Suffolk Relays.

Senior Kenzie Doyle (Swansea, Mass.) broke the school record for the women's 5,000-meter run at the Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener by a whopping 37 seconds, crossing the finish line with a time of 16:03.62. 

"Kenzie smashed the school record in the 5,000m at BU," said head coach Gary Gardner. "She ran a really good race and the most encouraging part is that we know there is a lot more in the tank."

On the men's side, sophomore Joseph Curran (Nashua, N.H.) bested a personal-record in the 3,000-meter by 16 seconds, coming in at 8:24.58. 

Four men competed in the 5,000-meter race at BU, as graduate student Drew Everett (Amesbury, Mass.) was the first River Hawk to cross as the 101st finisher with a time of 14:11.65. Joseph Walsh (14:33.59), Henry Farrington (14:43.61) and Daniel Cosgrove (14:53.52) also ran solid races in the 5,000-meter.  

"Drew, Henry and Joe Walsh all ran very solid season openers over 5K," said Gardner. "That sets them up for a great season."  

At the Suffolk Relays, the men started off the year with a second-place finish as a team while the women had an impressive showing of their own, placing third as a squad.  

"Overall, I was extremely pleased with the effort and energy the athletes brought to the first meet of the year," said associate head coach Allyson Waruch. "We had a few athletes seem to pick up right where they left off at the end last indoor season and others clearly showcased their hard work from the summer and pre-season. It was great to see athletes pushing themselves and trying to win their events to start the year."

Top-10 finishes were plentiful for the River Hawks, as 12 total runners and 20 total field athletes completed their days within the top 10 of their respective event. In the field, the women's jumping unit found success, registering a first-place finisher in both the long jump and high jump. Junior Wonuola Ashoju (Lagos, Nigeria) won the women's long jump event, clearing 5.39m while classmate Rebecca Crosier (Shaftsbury, Vt.) hit 5.24 for a fourth-place finish. Junior Erin Jensen (Brimfield, Mass.) topped the competition in the high jump, winning with a 1.65m mark. Senior Sydney Lewis (Nashua, N.H.) and sophomore Fleur Balogh de Galantha's (Grafton, Mass.) 1.60 jump was good for a tie for second place. Senior Isabella Ha (Chester Heights, Pa.) and freshman Paige Murphy (Billerica, Mass.) collected 6th and 7th-place finishes to make it five River Hawks in the top seven jumpers. Ha hit 1.50 meters while Murphy came in at 1.45m.

Junior Alexandria Grasso (North Reading, Mass.) earned a personal-best time on her way to winning the 60m hurdles race, finishing in 8.98 seconds while earning sixth-place honors in the 200-meter with a personal-best time of 26.70. Alongside Grasso in the 60m hurdles was graduate student Nina Tasker (Lebanon, Maine), who earned herself a fifth-place finish with a time of 9.54.

"Ali Grasso looked great all fall and I think she's really starting to mature as an athlete and said she felt really strong after starting the year off with a PR and a meet win," said Waruch. 

Three other River Hawks joined Grasso in the top 10 of the women's 200-meter. Freshman Danielle Thompson (Groton, Mass.) ran a time of 26.70 in her first collegiate race for second place. Ashaju finished just ahead of Grasso in fifth place with a personal-best time of 26.76. Graduate student Tatum Pecci (Tewksbury, Mass.) and Crosier also finished back-to-back in ninth and 10th place with times of 27.06 and 27.07.

Freshmen Willow Novak (Guilderland, N.Y.) and Nia Mainer-Smith (Taunton, Mass.) started their collegiate careers on a high note, finishing in second and third place respectively in the women's 400-meter. Novak crossed the finish line with a time of 59.80 while Mainer-Smith came in just .01 seconds behind her with a time of 59.81.

On the men's side, the leaderboard was flooded with River Hawks, as five members of the shot put crew filled the top five spots. Junior Luis Cadime (Lowell, Mass.) won the event with a distance of 15.05m while sophomore Ian Camerato (13.39m), sophomore Jonathan Vixamar (13.24m), junior Zachary Cardoso (13.09m) and Derek Munroe (13.06m) rounded out the top five.

Vixamar, Cadime and Camerato also competed in the weight throw, all finishing within the top six throwers. Vixamar's 14.10 mark earned him a second-place finish while Cadime and Camerato finished in fifth and sixth place. 

The men's jumpers also put up impressive numbers in the field, as junior Michael Makiej (Andover, Mass.) came in fifth place with a 6.36 mark and Eythan Luxene followed him in 6th place, clearing 6.30m. Sophomore Luke Stelmach (Sterling, Mass.) joined them in the top ten performers with a ninth-place finish and 6.20m mark. Makiej also competed in the high jump, hitting 1.95m for second place honors. Junior Thomas Neary (Littleton, Mass.) hit 1.85m for a fifth-place finish in his first collegiate event.

On the track, senior Thomas Jordan (Needham, mass.) collected another victory for the River Hawks in the men's 600-meter with a personal-best time of 1:23.8. Senior Hunter Marino (Weymouth, Mass.) finished just behind him in second place with a time of 1:25.31 to earn a personal-best of his own. Senior Ryan Casebolt (Boxborough, Mass.) joined them in the top five, finishing with a time of 1:28.83 in the fifth spot. 

Jonathan Stock was the lone representative of the River Hawks in the men's 1,000-meter race, crossing in 2:36.24 to pick up second-place honors and junior Adam Katerji (Shrewsbury, Mass.) finished the 60-meter race in third place with a personal-best 7.10 mark. Freshman Jeandre Abel (Wilmington, Mass.), in his first career meet, finished in 10th place in the men's 400-meter with a time of 53.00. 

Next up, the River Hawks will travel to the University of Rhode Island to compete in the Rhode Island Multi Event Meet on Thursday, December 8th.