The Massachusetts men’s and women’s track and field teams wrapped up their seasons this weekend at Boston University’s Track and Tennis Center. The men competed in the IC4A Championships, while the women competed in the ECAC Championships.
The IC4A and the ECAC are regional meets that athletes must qualify for and are unrelated to the Atlantic 10, containing teams from all over the Northeast.
At the ECAC Championships, the Minutewomen came out in full force in the first day of competition.
Sophomore Jada Harris leapt to 5 feet, 7.75 inches in the high jump and earned second place. On the track, she broke her own school record in the 60 meter hurdles twice, first in the preliminaries, at 8.67, and then again the semifinals, at 8.54.
Another school record fell in the 200 meter preliminaries, as sophomore Lindsay Witt ran 24.68 to qualify for Sunday’s final.
“It wasn’t a surprise, I did think it was within her grasp,” said assistant coach Taelour Murphy. Murphy also noted the work that Witt has done to reach this point, describing her as “a leader in a really young group” and as someone who “really breathes track and field.”
Senior Diamante Spencer closely followed Witt at 24.84, narrowly missing out at a spot in the final.
Also competing on Saturday were freshman Bryanna Rivers, who ran 2:11.7 in the 800 meters, and senior Kayla Rorke, who cleared 11 feet, 9.75 inches in the pole vault.
On Sunday, Witt returned to place seventh in the 200 meters, improving her school record while running 24.54. Jada Harris ran 8.80 in the 60 meter hurdles finals, taking eighth place.
In the field events, freshman Ivana Nyemeck placed 10th in the triple jump at 37 feet, 11.25 inches, while classmate Danielle Notarfrancesco threw 43 feet, 10.5 inches in the shot put to take 12th place.
On Saturday at the IC4As, three athletes competed for the Minutemen. Junior Jake DeGrace ran 8.28 in the 60 meter hurdles preliminaries, taking ninth, and qualifying for Sunday’s final.
In the 800 meters, senior Russell Wells ran 1:52.59, a season best, while junior Brian Gendron closely followed in 1:52.88.
On Sunday, DeGrace returned to take sixth in the hurdles, running 8.27, and scoring UMass’ lone points on the day.
In the field events, senior John Chuma took his final leap of the season in the pole vault, clearing 15 feet, 9 inches, tied for a season best, and taking ninth. Junior Nathan Adeyemi’s 47 foot, 6.25-inch triple jump was a personal best and enough for 10th place.
On the track, sophomore Dawson Bathgate ran 8:19.78 in the 3,000 meters, a personal best.
No UMass athletes will continue on to the NCAA Championships. Redshirt senior Heather MacLean had qualified in the 3,000 meters, but will elect not to compete for medical reasons.
These meets conclude the indoor season for UMass, and with over a month until the first outdoor meet, the teams will have some time to rest, recover and begin the next cycle of training. Murphy said that as a new coach in the program, she will be looking to see what the athletes can do outdoors, but that she hopes to put together strong relay teams in the coming season.
UMass will host that first meet on April 7, and will be joined by Vermont, Rhode Island and Boston College. This will be one of two home meets this spring, with second coming on April 28.
Will Katcher can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter at @will_katcher.
