UMass Lowell’s Track Titans Take on Boston’s Best in Thrilling Battle on the Track

BOSTON, Mass. – The UMass Lowell men’s track and field squad journeyed with a select group this Saturday to compete in the Battle in Beantown held in Boston, Mass.

“The squad delivered an impressive performance today,” remarked Head Coach Gary Gardner. “At this time of year, we aim for progress from week to week, and this week showed significant improvement compared to the previous meet. We witnessed a considerable number of personal records which boosts everyone’s spirits regarding our current standing.”

The shot put commenced the events, where junior Mukanya Kazadi (Woburn, Mass.) stood out as the sole River Hawk, achieving a distance of 13.52m, securing first place overall in the heat.

In the Jarred Rome shot put, senior Ian Camerato (Mount Laurel, N.J.) earned fifth place with a throw measuring 14.87m.

Sophomore Shane Exilhomme (Orlando, Fla.) managed to secure a top-5 finish in the high jump, taking third place with a height of 1.90m. Close behind were freshman Camren Allian (Carver, Mass.), finishing seventh (1.85m), freshman Jack Shepherd in tenth (1.80m), and junior Derek Munroe (Tewksbury, Mass.) in eleventh (1.70m).

Leading the charge for the River Hawks, graduate student Daniel Cuddy (Hudson, Mass.) achieved a pole vault height of 4.15m, tying for fifth position. Freshman Sawyer O’Riorden (Stow, Mass.) also made the top-10, finishing eighth with a height of 4.15m. Senior Luke Stelmach (Sterling, Mass.) and sophomore Brandon Riley (Weymouth, Mass.) also participated in the pole vault.

In the weight throw, the only River Hawk in action was Camerato, who recorded a distance of 11.62m to finish in 13th place.

Concluding the field events with the long jump, graduate student Brandon Williams (Severn, Md.) leapt to sixth place with a mark of 6.24m. Shepherd, sophomore Kuzey Kaya (Winchester, Mass.), and senior Ben Ayotte (Salisbury, Mass.) also participated in this event.

The 60m hurdles preliminaries kicked off the running events for UMass Lowell. Two River Hawks progressed to the next heat after securing top-10 finishes, with Brandon Riley placing fifth with a time of 8.76 and Stelmach achieving a sixth place finish at 8.77 seconds. Monroe fell just short by two tenths of a second from advancing to the final heat, finishing 11th at 9.06 seconds. In the ultimate heat, Stelmach showcased his skills by finishing fifth at 8.60 seconds in the 60m hurdles, while Riley followed closely in seventh place at 8.78 seconds.

The young standout, sophomore Daniel Kennedy (Tolland, Conn.), took command as the sole River Hawk competitor in the 60m dash preliminaries, finishing third at 6.93 seconds. Ultimately, Kennedy managed to sneak into fifth place in the 60m dash, clocking a time of 6.97 seconds.

The River Hawks continued to excel in the one mile run, led by junior Sean Kennedy-Wonneberger (East Haddam, Conn.) who clinched first place with a time of 4:03.87. Following him were senior Graham Stedfast (Rowley, Mass.) in fourth (4:07.15), junior Hatim Boukhtam (Abington, Mass.) in fifth (4:07.61), graduate student Joseph Young (Dorchester, Mass.) in seventh (4:07.89), senior Jan Wouter Van Den Akker (Groningen, Netherlands) in ninth (4:09.58), and junior William Benoit (Fairhaven, Mass.) in tenth (4:09.89), all managing to finish in the top-10. In the top-25, freshman Isaac Henderson placed 11th at 4:12.65, senior Joseph Curran (Nashua, N.H.) achieved 19th at 4:14.87, junior Ethan Mashtare (St. Albans, Vt.) finished in 23rd at 4:16.86, and graduate student Hunter Marion (Templeton, Mass.) recorded a time of 4:17.72 for 24th. An additional sixteen River Hawk competitors also participated in the one mile run.

Next on the agenda was the 600m run, where junior Basit Iddriss (Milford, Mass.) captured fourth place with a time of 1:20.64. Freshman Gabriel Sisk (West Hartford, Conn.) closely followed, finishing just one tenth of a second later in fifth place with a time of 1:20.75. Graduate student Tanner Jellison (Wakefield, Mass.) clocked in at 1:22.23, securing 12th place. Freshman Sean Kerin (Walpole, Mass.), sophomore Pedro Mayol (Lincoln, R.I.), freshman Tyler Rothrock (Allentown, Pa.), and senior Sean Riley (Wilmington, Mass.) also participated in this event.

Junior Tristan O’Riorden raced his way into the top-3 in the 400m dash, finishing third at 48.91 seconds. Also running was sophomore Anthony Massari (Dumont, N.J.) who finished sixth with a time of 50.04 seconds.

Freshman Michael Fisher (Wallingford, Conn.) was the only River Hawk to place in the top-10 of the 300m dash, finishing seventh at 34.69 seconds. Five River Hawks crossed the finish line consecutively, with freshman Michael Gyimah (Kumasi, Ghana) leading the way in 11th (35.41), sophomore Evan Imasogie (Lowell, Mass.) in 12th (35.62), junior Brett Earle (Baldwinville, Mass.) in 13th (35.67), freshman Dmitrius Shearrion (Taunton, Mass.) in 14th (35.68), and graduate student Aras Kaya (Winchester, Mass.) in 15th (35.99). Freshman Liam O’Keefe (Trumbull, Conn.) also competed in the 300m dash.

The River Hawks had a solitary contestant in the 800m run, where freshman Tyler Young (Marion, Mass.) pushed himself to a ninth-place finish at 1:58.15.

In the 200m dash, Brandon Riley managed to secure the 10th position with a time of 22.28 seconds. Munroe also participated in this event, achieving 14th place with a finish of 23.37 seconds.

Graduate student Paul Neilan spearheaded the competitors in the 3000m run, finishing ninth with a time of 8:16.85. Alongside Neilan were senior TJ Glowik (Danvers, Mass.), who secured a spot in the top-20 with a 19th place finish at 8:37.54, sophomore Keegan Tierney (East Greenwich, R.I.) who recorded 22nd with a time of 8:40.04, and sophomore Timothy Walsh (Auburn, Mass.) taking 24th at 8:43.94. Additionally, sophomore Dean Allen (Chelmsford, Mass.) also participated in this event.

UMass Lowell will be moving forward to host the River Hawk Invitational on January 24 and 25 in Boston, Mass. at the Track at New Balance. The invitational is also designed to serve as a Morgan’s Message Dedication Meet.