Track Jon & Andy Across The Country/Blog
California, here they come. UMass cross country/track alums Jon Korhonen and Andy McCarron logged many miles running around Western Massachusetts during their collegiate days in Amherst. Despite being several years out of college competition, cross-country still beckons, but in a different way. They are in the midst of a a real cross-country challenge where they will travel 3,500 miles to San Francisco in 40 days, riding the entire trip on their bicycles to raise money for the Children's Hunger Fund.
Redshirt junior Kristen Bakanowski (Northboro, Mass.), senior Christina DeRosa (Sound Beach, N.Y.), junior Jesse Regnier (Hampden, Mass.) and Lisa Wilson (Holden, Mass.) each turned in strong performances on Friday and Saturday night as they represented the UMass track and field teams at the NCAA East Regional Meet hosted by Florida State University. DeRosa will now wait to hear if she qualifies for the NCAA Championships in the 10,000 meters. She is currently ranked 28th nationally in the event. Last season, the NCAA took 27 competitors in the 10K field. (more)
Live Results From NCAA East Regional
Four University of Massachusetts track and field student-athletes will head to Florida State this Friday and Saturday for the NCAA East Regional Meet. Kristen Bakanowski (pole vault), Christina DeRosa (5,000 meters), and Lisa Wilson (discus) will represent the UMass women's team, while Jesse Regnier (3,000 meter steeplechase) represents the men's team. Each will be competing to qualify for the NCAA National Championship Meet.
For senior men's track captain Ryan Durkin, his final week at the University of Massachusetts was a good one. It started on Monday with Durkin being a featured speaker at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center for the Francis Ouimet Scholarship Fund's 59th annual banquet. He followed that up the next day by becoming just the second person in school history to complete a marathon inside the Curry Hicks Cage. At Saturday's 138th Commencement, Durkin was named one of 11 seniors presented with the 21st Century Leader Award which is co-sponsored by the Chancellor's Office and the Alumni Association.
Men's Results | Women's Results
The UMass track and field teams traveled to Princeton University over the weekend where the men competed in the IC4A Championships and the women competed in the ECAC Championships. Sophomore Lisa Wilson (Holden, Mass.) had the top performance of the weekend after placing sixth in the discus throw. Wilson broke the UMass school record with a throw of 155 feet, 9 inches. Wilson surpassed Natalie Hart's throw of 153 feet, 8 inches that was set back in 1993. In addition, Wilson now qualifies for the NCAA Regional Meet in two weeks.
Men's Results | Women's Results
This weekend, both the men's and women's track and field teams placed seventh at the New England Outdoor Championships. The top performance of the day came from red-shirted freshman Shiyi Zan who placed seventh in the 5K. With a time of 17:08.64, Zan now holds the fifth fastest time at UMass and qualified for the ECAC Championships. For the men, the top performance of the day came from the trio of sophomore Nicolai Naranjo, senior Nils Fischer, and sophomore Jonathan Pierce. Naranjo took first place in the 5K with a time of 14:22.57, while Fischer took third place in 14:29.40. Pierce finished sixth with a time of 14:36.84. Together, the three scored half of the total points for UMass and all qualified for the IC4A Championships.
4/12- UMass Invitational Post Meet Interviews
