MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – The UMass Dartmouth women's outdoor track & field team kicked off its 2026 schedule at the J. Elmer Swanson Invitational – hosted by Wesleyan University on Saturday at the Andersen Track. The Corsairs were paced by a number of solid efforts on the day.
In the 100-meter dash, rookie
Kiki Melick posted a time of 13.12 to place eighth overall. Classmate
Kiariana Williams was 15th overall with a time of 13.65, while rookie
Mia Wellington was 34th with a mark of 15.82.
Melick went on to place 14th overall in the 200-meter dash with a time of 26.88, while Williams was 45th in 29.36. Wellington placed 61st overall in 33.50. The 400-meter dash saw rookie
Isabelle Chekares post 25th overall in 1:10.72, while in the 1500-meters, junior
Sophie Owen was 22nd in 5:12.24. Classmate
Sarah Lynch posted 24th in 5:12.46 as junior
Serena Carnes was 35th overall in 5:28.41.
Also in the 1500-m, junior
Liv DeSimone was 38th in 5:30.67, while sophomore
Lylah Thibeault was 45th in 5:42.63. Rookie
Nicole Mota rounded out the efforts in 46th with a time of 5:45.44.
The 3,000-meters saw sophomore
Sara Lopez place 22nd overall in 11:39.47, while in the 5,000-meters, sophomore
Ashlyn Byrnes finished eighth overall in 19:30.63. Rookie
Alexah Pedder was 16th overall in 20:21.40, while rookie
Elena Aponte and sophomores
Natalya LaVita and
Alexia Gonsalves were 19th (20:28.42), 20th (20:28.87) and 21st (20:33.56), respectively.
In the 10,000-meters, grad student
Emily Philbrook posted second overall with a DIII New England qualifying mark of 40:12.45. In the 100-meter hurdles, rookie
Elizabeth Fagundes was 17th overall in 19.65, while in the 400-meter hurdles, senior
Grace Russell was 12th overall in 1:12.51.
The 4x400-meter relay saw Byrnes, Aponte, Pedder and Lopez combine to place 10th overall in 4:42.08, while DeSimone, Mota, Gonsalves and Thibeault were 11th in 5:08.23.
The Corsairs claimed victory in the 4x800-meter relay as Lynch, Owen, Carnes and senior
Tori Schweitzer combined to post a time of 10:37.05.
The high jump saw senior
Isabella Taccogna place second overall with a mark of 1.53 meters (5' 0.25"), while in the shot put, sophomore
Olivia Seutter was ninth overall with a throw of 10.52 meters (34' 6.25"). Rookie
Kearston Nelson placed 11th overall with a mark of 10.37 meters (34' 0.25"), while classmate
Addy Keller was 17th with a throw of 9.60 meters (31' 6").
Junior
Abby O'Leary placed 21st in the shot put with a throw of 9.10 meters (29' 10.25"), while in the discus throw, Seutter took second overall with a DIII New England qualifying mark of 37.03 meters (121' 6"). Junior
Emily Hesketh was fifth overall with a mark of 33.34 meters (109' 4"), while Nelson was 12th overall with a throw of 29.18 meters (95' 9"). Keller rounded out the action in the discus with a mark of 24.72 meters (81' 1").
Hesketh went on to claim victory in the hammer throw with a Division III New England qualifying mark of 41.66 meters (136' 8"). O'Leary placed 11th overall with a throw of 31.75 meters (104' 2"), while in the javelin throw, Fagundes was seventh with a mark of 30.02 meters (98' 6").
Russell was ninth overall in the javelin with a throw of 28.90 meters (94' 10"), while sophomore
Caroline Lander was 15th overall with a mark of 27.43 meters (90' 0").
UMass Dartmouth returns to action next weekend when they host the Corsair Classic at the UMD Track & Field Complex. Action kicks off on Friday at 1pm with several throws, followed by the rest of the action on Saturday beginning at 11am.
