Women's Track & Field Takes 6th at LEC Championships

PLYMOUTH, N.H. – The UMass Dartmouth women's indoor track & field team competed at the 2026 Little East Indoor Championships on Saturday – hosted by Plymouth State. The Corsairs finished sixth overall in the field of nine teams with 58 points. Southern Maine captured this year's indoor title.
 
In the 5,000-meters, graduate student Emily Philbrook finished sixth overall with a time of 19:21.30. Junior Serena Carnes posted eighth in the event, notching a time of 19:48.56. In the 60-meter hurdles, it was a group of rookies that finished strong, paced by Adama Bangura who was 12th overall with a mark of 11.06. Elizabeth Fagundes was 13th with a mark of 11.29, while Laylaa Plaisir was 14th in 11.42.
 
The 60-meter dash saw rookie Kiki Melick finish ninth overall with a New England Division III Provisional qualifying mark of 8.27, while classmate Kiariana Williams was 15th with a time of 8.57. The Mile was paced by sophomore Ashlyn Byrnes, who was fourth overall with a time of 5:34.45, while rookies Alexah Pedder and Nicole Mota were ninth (5:44.26) and 12th (6:55.43), respectively.
 
The 400-meter dash saw senior Grace Russell finish 16th overall in 1:07.26, while the 800-meter run saw senior Tori Schweitzer post 10th overall with a time of 2:33.11. Sophomore Sara Lopez posted 11th overall in 2:33.56, while graduate student Julia Latura was 12th with a time of 2:37.53.
 
In the 200-meter dash, Melick finished ninth overall with a mark of 27.18, while the 3,000-meters saw junior Sarah Lynch earn All-LEC Second Team honors, posting second overall in the event with a New England Division III Provisional qualifying time of 10:39.34. Classmate Sophie Owen posted fifth overall in 11:03.44, while Philbrook was ninth in 11:23.61. Junior Liv DeSimone was 11th in 11:45.96, while rookie Elena Aponte was 14th in 11:52.63. Sophomore Lylah Thibeault was 15th overall in 11:57.38, while classmate Alexia Gonsalves was 16th overall (12:07.76).
 
The 4x800-meter relay saw Latura, Byrnes, Pedder and Lopez combine to finish third overall with a time of 10:13.66, while in the 4x400-meter relay, Russell, Schweitzer, Williams and Melick finished sixth overall in 4:29.81.
 
In the field events, the long jump saw rookie Eshaya Lauder garner All-LEC Second Team honors, posting second overall with a New England Division III Automatic Qualifying mark of 5.44 meters. As the top finishing freshman, she also captured All-Rookie Team honors.
 
The triple jump was paced by Bangura, who was eighth overall with a mark of 10.25 meters, while senior Isabella Taccogna was 12th with a distance of 9.67 meters. The pole vault saw rookie Grace Hawranik finish fourth overall with a height of 2.70 meters, while in the high jump, Taccogna posted seventh overall with a mark of 1.48 meters.
 
Junior Emily Hesketh captured All-LEC Second Team honors with a second place finish in the weight throw, posting a throw of 14.59 meters, which was also a New England Division III Automatic Qualifying mark. Junior Abby O'Leary finished 12th in the event with a mark of 12.37 meters, while sophomore Olivia Seutter was 17th with a throw of 11.12 meters.
 
The shot put saw Seutter finish sixth overall with a throw of 11.42 meters, which was a New England DIII Provisional qualifying mark. Rookie Kearston Nelson posted eighth overall with a throw of 10.99 meters, while classmate Addy Keller was 17th with a mark of 9.75 meters.
 
The UMass Dartmouth women's squad will see qualified members head to the TRACK at New Balance on Sunday, March 1 to compete at the DIII New England Championships.