WESTFIELD, Mass. – It was a solid day of action for the UMass Dartmouth women's track & field team as they competed at the 2025 Jerry Gravel Classic, hosted by Westfield State at Jerry Gravel Track. The Corsairs saw three student-athletes record victories on the day.
The Corsairs got things going on the track in the 3,000-meter steeplechase as rookie
Alexia Gonsalves finished third overall with a personal best time of 13:28.42. Classmate
Lylah Thibeault posted fourth in her first collegiate running of the steeplechase, notching a time of 14:51.84.
In the 1,500-meter run, sophomore
Olivia DeSimone posted 12th overall with a time of 5:35.94. Next up was the 100-meter hurdles as rookie
Belleya Franck was fourth with a time of 17.75.
The 400-meter dash saw rookie
Phoebe Gesner run the event for the first time in her collegiate career, posting third overall in a time of 1:03.97. In the 100-meter dash, the Corsairs saw rookie
Erica Markey place seventh with a personal best time of 14.58.
Next up in the 800-meter run, sophomore
Kyla Palmer posted 13th overall in a personal best time of 2:49.64. Russell went on to take second in the 400-meter hurdles with a mark of 1:13.42. The 200-meter dash saw Taccogna post seventh overall in a personal best time of 27.93, while Franck was 10th in 28.95 – also a personal best mark.
In the 5,000-meter run, rookie
Ashlyn Byrnes placed fifth overall with a time of 20:59.84, marking her first run in the event outdoors.
The final track event of the day was the 4x400-meter relay as Russell, Gonsalves, DeSimone and Thibeault posted a time of 4:45.62 to take second overall.
The field events saw grad student
Kate Hockenbury post the victory with a D3 New England qualifying throw of 11.86 meters (38' 11"). Rookie
Olivia Seutter was third with a distance of 10.47 meters (34' 4.25"), while sophomore
Abby O'Leary was eighth with a mark of 9.33 meters (30' 7.5"). Junior
Lauren Donlan rounded out the event in 10th overall with a throw of 9.04 meters (29' 8").
In the hammer throw, sophomore
Emily Hesketh posted second overall with a D3 New England qualifying mark of 42.28 meters (138' 8") as Donlan captured third with a personal best throw of 37.29 meters (122' 4"). Senior
Mia Mejia-Maalouf was fourth with a distance of 37.09 meters (121' 8"), while O'Leary was seventh with a personal best mark of 32.18 meters (105' 7"). Grad student
Alexa Lemieux rounded out the action in 12th with a mark of 27.87 meters (91' 5").
The javelin saw Mejia-Maalouf earn the victory as she threw a personal best 31.21 meters (102' 4"), while Hockenbury took third with a personal best throw as well of 28.87 meters (94' 8"). Junior
Grace Russell was next in fourth with a mark of 28.30 meters (92' 10") as Lemieux posted fifth with a throw of 27.04 meters (88' 8").
Taccogna took the top honors in the high jump, recording a height of 1.46 meters (4' 9.5") for the win, while also posting fourth in the triple jump with a distance of 9.98 meters (32' 9").
The discus throw was paced by Hesketh, who was second overall with a throw of 32.45 meters (106' 5"), while Seutter took third with a mark of 32.39 meters (106' 3"). Donlan was 11th overall with a throw of 23.83 meters (78' 2") to conclude the event.
UMass Dartmouth is back in action next weekend, traveling to Medford, Mass., to compete at the Tufts Sunshine Classic on Saturday.
