DARTMOUTH, Mass. – Powered by several personal bests, victories and numerous regional qualifying marks, the UMass Dartmouth women's outdoor track & field team had a solid day of action at the 2026 Corsairs Classic.
In the 100-meter dash, rookie
Kiariana Williams ran a personal best time of 13.41 to earn fifth overall, while classmate
Eshaya Lauder was right behind in sixth with a mark of 13.47. Rookie
Jai'Reona Brown-Carter was 12th overall in 13.90, while
Adama Bangura was 13th in 13.92. Fellow freshman
Tiana Jacques tied for 14th in 13.93.
Senior
Isabella Taccogna led the way in the 200-meter dash, posting 12th overall in 28.89 – which was a personal best. Williams was right behind in 13th with a mark of 28.90, while Brown-Carter was 19th in 29.42. In the 400-meter dash, rookie
Isabelle Chekares posted 13th overall in 1:12.69, while in the 800-meter run, senior
Tori Schweitzer captured third overall in 2:32.85. Rookie
Nicole Mota took 11th overall in 2:48.22 in the 800.
In the 1500-meters, sophomore
Ashlyn Byrnes ran to sixth overall with a personal best time of 5:11.40, while classmate
Sara Lopez was 10th overall in 5:15.12. The 5000-meters saw junior
Sophie Owen record a time of 19:12.66 for fourth overall, while classmate
Sarah Lynch was seventh in 19:23.69.
Also finishing strong in the top 20 of the 5000m was junior
Serena Carnes, who was 12th overall in 20:09.85. Classmate
Liv DeSimone was 13th in 20:10.67, while sophomore
Lylah Thibeault was 17th in 20:23.31.
In the 100-meter hurdles, Bangura was ninth overall in 18.12, while rookie
Laylaa Plaisir was 14th in 19.25. Rookie
Elizabeth Fagundes was 17th overall in 19.94 as Brown-Carter took 18th in 20.91.
The 400-meter hurdles saw senior
Grace Russell post fifth overall with a time of 1:12.96, while it was a packed crowd of success in the 3000-meter steeplechase. Pacing the way was sophomore
Natalya LaVita who finished second overall in 12:55.96. Rookie
Elena Aponte was third in 13:08.84, while classmate
Alexah Pedder was fourth in 13:27.19. Rounding out the efforts was sophomore
Alexia Gonsalves, who placed fifth in 13:45.87.
In the 4x100-meter relay, Lauder, rookie
Kiki Melick, Jacques and Williams combined to take fourth overall in 52.16. The 4x400-meter relay was paced by Russell, Schweitzer, Byrnes and Lopez – who took second overall in 4:31.12.
Taking fifth was the foursome of Lynch, Owen, Carnes and DeSimone in 5:00.04, while in sixth, Chekares, Pedder, Aponte and Gonsalves posted a time of 5:01.14. The final relay of Thibeault, Mota, LaVita and rookie
Eva Silva-Romao posted seventh in 5:13.28.
In the field events, Taccogna placed fifth overall in the high jump with a mark of 1.47 meters (4' 9.75"), while rookie
Grace Hawranik won the pole vault with a height of 2.65 meters (8' 8.25"). Taccogna went on to place seventh in the triple jump with a distance of 9.77 meters (32' 0.75").
The shot put saw rookie
Kearston Nelson record a New England Division III Provisional qualifying mark of 11.24 meters (36' 10.5"), which earned her second overall. Sophomore
Olivia Seutter placed eighth overall with a throw of 10.01 meters (32' 10.25"), while rookie
Addy Keller was ninth with a mark of 9.64 meters (31' 7.5"). Rounding out the efforts was junior
Abby O'Leary who was 18th with a throw of 8.85 meters (29' 0.5").
Seutter went on to earn second in the discus throw with a New England D3 Automatic qualifying mark of 37.05 meters (121' 7"), while junior
Emily Hesketh took sixth overall with a throw of 32.09 meters (105' 3"). Nelson was 18th with a throw of 27.21 meters (89' 3"), while Keller was 23rd with a throw of 26.41 meters (86' 8").
Hesketh recorded a personal best and NE D3 Automatic qualifying mark in the hammer throw, winning the event with a mark of 46.61 meters (152' 11"), while O'Leary was fifth with a throw of 35.53 meters (116' 7"). Seutter posted seventh with a mark of 33.86 meters (111' 1"), while Nelson and Keller were 10th (31.74m; 104' 2") and 11th (31.63m; 103' 9"), respectively. Sophomore
Caroline Lander placed 24th overall (22.26m; 73' 0").
In the javelin throw, Fagundes posted eighth overall with a throw of 31.36 meters (102' 11"), which was a personal best. Russell posted 10th overall with a mark of 29.66 meters (97' 4").
UMass Dartmouth returns to action next weekend, traveling to New London, Conn., to compete at the Coast Guard Spring Invitational on Saturday.
