Junior Sean Munnelly sets record on track.

05/08/2018
Lowell Sun

CATONSVILLE, Md. -- Led by first-place finishes by senior Paul Hogan (Burlington), junior Sean Munnelly (Litchfield, N.H.) and graduate student John Fiorello (Tewksbury) the UMass Lowell men's track and field team turned its strongest finish ever at the America East Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

The River Hawks finished second in the nine-team field with 165.5 points. Albany won the team title for the 14th consecutive year with 219.

Grabbing the headlines was Hogan who won the 5,000 meters after winning the 10,000 less than 24-hours earlier. Hogan was named the Most Outstanding Male Track Athlete.

Hogan won in 14 minutes, 23.25 seconds.

Munnelly won the 800 in 1:50.84. He was nearly a full second ahead of the rest of the field.

A year ago Munnelly won the 800 with a stumbling dive at the finish line.

Fiorello won the shot put for the second year in a row. The throw was measured at 53 feet, 61/4 inches. Senior Ryan Kerrigan (Dracut) finished fourth in the shot with a throw of 50-23/4. Kerrigan also was sixth in the discus.

On the women's side, senior Kerstin Darsney (Rowley) broke the school record in the triple jump at UMBC Stadium and qualified for the NCAA regionals.

The River Hawks finished in a third-place tie with Stony Brook with 107 points, their best effort ever at the meet. Albany won with 228.

Darsney wrote her name into the UMass Lowell record book in the triple jump on her final attempt. She was marked at 42 feet, two inches, good for second place.

The jump erases the record of 41-111/2 set by Toni-Marie Henry in 2006. She also finished second in the long jump, sixth in the high jump and was part of the 4x200-meter relay team that finished second.

UML took three of the top five spot in the shot put. Freshman Chloe Eressy (Centerville) finished second with a throw 44 -feet, 111/2 inches.

Senior Alli Wood (Chelmsford) was fifth in the 800. The Richards sisters also added points to the board. Sophomore Kaley Richards (Lowell) finished fourth in the 1,500.

She was clocked with a personal-best 4:31.25. Senior Marissa Richards (Lowell) was eighth in the 5,000.

Senior Jessica Amedee (Tewksbury) grabbed sixth in the 100 hurdles in a personal-best clocking of 14:58.