BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – It was an outstanding day of action for the UMass Dartmouth women's outdoor track & field team, who competed at the Bears Invitational at Bridgewater State on Friday afternoon. The Corsairs recorded seven victories at the meet, along with countless New England qualifying marks and a number of personal bests.
Action opened in the track events with the 4x100-meter relay as rookies
Kiki Melick,
Eshaya Lauder,
Tiana Jacques and
Kiariana Williams combined for victory with a time of 50.45. In the 1500-meters, rookie
Alexah Pedder shined, taking second overall with a personal best mark of 5:26.79.
Rookie
Elena Aponte also finished strong in the 1500m, placing sixth overall in 5:46.57 – another personal best. Classmate
Raeleigh Levesque posted 11th overall in 6:03.88. Next up, the 100-meter hurdles saw rookie
Adama Bangura post sixth overall with a collegiate-best mark of 17.40, while classmate
Laylaa Plaisir was 11th in 21.31.
The 400-meter dash saw sophomore
Sara Lopez place sixth overall in 1:05.67, while senior
Tori Schweitzer posted eighth in 1:08.19. Rookie
Isabelle Chekares finished ninth in 1:08.25 to round out the efforts in the 400m.
It was a 1-2-3 sweep in the 100-meter dash paced by Melick, who claimed victory in 13.07. Lauder posted second overall in 13.25, while Williams took third in 13.43. Sophomore
Erica Markey was 11th in 14.48, followed by Plaisir in 13th with a mark of 14.88. Rookie
Leika Souffrance finished 14th in 15.06 with classmates
Kate Sanchez and
Mia Wellington taking 16th (15.49) and 17th (15.49), respectively.
Rookie
Nicole Mota led the way in the 800-meters, finishing sixth overall in 2:47.57, while in the 400-meter hurdles, senior
Grace Russell powered her way to second overall in 1:10.88. The 200-meter dash saw Markey place 18th overall in 30.42 as Souffrance placed 26th in 32.38. Sanchez and Wellington rounded out the event in 28th (33.18) and 30th (33.93), respectively.
The field events saw junior
Maddie Carter post sixth overall in the high jump with a mark of 1.32 meters (4' 4") – a new collegiate-best, while in the pole vault, rookie
Grace Hawranik claimed victory with a height of 2.60 meters (8' 6.25").
The long jump saw a victory by Lauder, who posted a jump of 5.10 meters (16' 8.75"), while the triple jump saw Bangura finish third overall with a mark of 9.94 meters (32' 7.25"). Senior
Isabella Taccogna placed ninth overall with a height of 9.48 meters (31' 1.25").
It was a 1-2 finish in the shot put as rookie
Kearston Nelson claimed victory with a throw of 11.16 meters (36' 7.25"), while sophomore
Olivia Seutter was second with a mark of 11.13 meters (36' 6.25") – both of which were New England Division III Provisional qualifying marks. Rookie
Addy Keller placed sixth overall with a throw of 9.75 meters (31' 11.75") with junior
Abby O'Leary finishing 10th with a mark of 9.11 meters (29' 10.75").
Seutter went on to win the discus throw with a distance of 35.68 meters (117' 8") – a New England DIII Provisional mark, while Nelson captured fourth with a throw of 29.66 meters (97' 4"). Keller threw 26.62 meters (87' 4") for sixth overall, while Russell paced the way in the javelin throw with a mark of 25.81 meters (84' 8") for fifth overall.
It was a 1-2-3-4-5 finish in the hammer throw as the Corsairs dominated. Leading the way was junior
Emily Hesketh, who won with a throw of 44.54 meters (146' 2") which was a New England DIII Automatic qualifying mark. O'Leary placed second with a throw of 37.34 meters (122' 6"), while Keller earned third with a mark of 36.03 meters (118' 3").
Nelson went on to post fourth overall with a throw of 31.44 meters (103' 2"), while Seutter took fifth overall with a mark of 30.95 meters (101' 7").
The Corsairs return to action next weekend, traveling to Eastern Connecticut State University to compete at the 2026 Little East Championships. Action begins at 10am.
