The UMass Lowell women’s track and field team hosted the George Davis Invitational in Lowell on April 18, while also sending an athlete to compete at the Virginia Challenge in Charlottesville.
These events are significant as they allow athletes to compete against strong fields, achieve personal bests, and prepare for upcoming championships. The team took advantage of favorable weather conditions to post several top finishes.
Associate Head Coach Ally Waruch said, “I was really happy, first off, that we had good weather. It was one of the first meets where it hasn’t been super windy, or cold, or rainy. And we saw a lot of event wins today, and some PRs, so anytime we can come out and compete and have a lot of kids winning events, that is really where we want to be at this time of year, being competitive with the field that we are in, so that was a really exciting day.”
At the George Davis Invitational in Lowell, sophomore Selena Wood led in the 3,000 meters with a second-place finish among 27 runners with a personal-best time. Other notable performances included freshman Krista Bettez winning the 3,000-meter steeplechase by over 21 seconds and freshman Nyrah Joseph finishing second in the 100-meter hurdles with her own personal best. In relay events, UMass Lowell teams finished seventh in the 4×100 meters and second out of five teams in the closing 4×400 meters.
Field event highlights included junior Nhyira Nkansah placing fourth in discus open competition while freshman Zoe Clarke achieved third place with a personal-best throw during discus invitational. Alessandra Forgione earned second place in javelin competition.
Down at the Virginia Challenge meet in Charlottesville, junior Jayani Santos competed as UMass Lowell’s lone female representative. She finished fourteenth out of thirty-three runners in her event with a personal-best time that ranks her second within her conference this season.
The team’s performance across both venues demonstrates their depth heading into future competitions.
