WALTHAM, Mass. – It was an outstanding day of action for the UMass Dartmouth women's indoor track & field team at the 2026 Reggie Poyau Memorial Invitational at Brandeis on Saturday. The Corsairs compiled 76 points overall, finishing fourth among the eight-team field. Pacing the way was 11 personal records, two victories and five New England D3 Provisional qualifying marks.
In the track events, the Corsairs saw rookie
Adama Bangura post 15th overall in the 60-meter hurdles with a mark of 11.58. Classmate
Laylaa Plaisir was 16th with a personal record time of 11.88, while rookie
Elizabeth Fagundes was 17th with a personal record of 12.01.
The 60-meter dash saw several more outstanding efforts, paced by rookie
Kiki Melick, who eclipsed a personal record with a time of 8.16, while also notching a New England D3 Provisional mark. Classmate
Eshaya Lauder took 13th overall with a PR time of 8.28 – which was also an NED3 Provisional mark, while rookie
Kiariana Williams was 17th with a time of 8.51. Freshman
Tiana Jacques placed 19th with a personal record time of 8.76 as sophomore
Leandra Paul also posted a personal record mark of 9.03 for 27th overall.
It was a stacked field for the Corsairs in the Mile, paced by a victory from rookie
Alexah Pedder, who finished in a personal record time of 5:40.22. Sophomore
Ashlyn Byrnes claimed second with a mark of 5:46.95, while junior
Serena Carnes captured third in 5:57.76. Taking fourth was sophomore
Alexia Gonsalves with a time of 5:58.45, as junior
Liv DeSimone was fifth in 5:59.06. Sophomore
Lylah Thibeault posted sixth in a personal record time of 6:01.47, while rookie
Raeleigh Levesque was ninth in 6:14.95.
Senior
Grace Russell ran to 14th overall in the 300-meter dash with a personal record time of 47.51, while in the 1,000-meters, sophomore
Sara Lopez was 11th in 3:19.72. Senior
Tori Schweitzer posted 12th with a personal record time of 3:20.00, while grad student
Julia Latura took 13th in 3:24.52. Rookie
Nicole Mota was 14th in 3:42.35, while classmate
Isabelle Chekares finished 17th in 3:55.06.
In the 3,000-meters, junior
Sophie Owen took 10th overall with a personal record time of 10:53.62, while classmate
Sarah Lynch was 11th with a PR of her own of 11:05.14.
Rounding out the track events was the 4x400-meter relays, led by the group of Latura, Lopez, Schweitzer and Byrnes as they claimed sixth in a season best time of 4:30.35. The relay of rookie
Elena Aponte, Gonsalves, Pedder and Chekares was eighth in 4:58.13, while DeSimone, Mota, Carnes and Levesque were ninth in 5:09.82.
In the field events, junior
Emily Hesketh posted second overall in the weight throw with a New England D3 Provisional mark of 14.28 meters (46' 10.25"). Sophomore
Olivia Seutter was eighth with a throw of 11.23 meters (36' 10.25"), while classmate
Abby O'Leary was 10th overall with a mark of 11.07 meters (36' 4"). Rookie
Kearston Nelson was 15th with a throw of 9.86 meters (32' 4.25") with classmate
Addy Keller rounding out the event in 19th with a throw of 8.50 meters (27' 10.75").
Nelson was the victor in the shot put, notching a New England D3 Provisional mark of 11.28 meters (37' 0.25") for the win. Keller posted fourth with a mark of 10.05 meters (32' 11.75") as Seutter finished seventh with a mark of 9.95 meters (32' 7.75"). O'Leary was ninth with a throw of 9.18 meters (30' 1.50"), while sophomore
Caroline Lander concluded the event in 14th with a throw of 8.09 meters (26' 6.50").
In the pole vault, rookie
Grace Hawranik took seventh overall with a personal record mark of 2.70 meters (8' 10.25"), while senior
Isabella Taccogna finished sixth overall in the high jump with a mark of 1.43 meters (4' 8.25").
Lauder went on to place second in the long jump with a New England D3 Provisional mark of 5.10 meters (16' 8.75"), while Paul was 15th in the event with a height of 3.83 meters (12' 6.75").
UMass Dartmouth returns to action next weekend when it travels to Cambridge to compete at the Gordon Kelly Invitational at MIT on January 24.
