TRACK & FIELD NOTEBOOK
The University of Vermont track & field program opens up the 2019 outdoor season at UMass Lowell on Saturday (Mar. 30) at 10:30 a.m. as the Catamounts compete against the host River Hawks at Cushing Field Complex.
 
RELATED LINKS
Live Results
2018-19 Roster | 2018-19 Schedule
 
COACH'S QUOTE
"The team is fired up about getting our Outdoor T&F season going," said head coach Matt Belfield. "We have some athletes who've been training since the fall and will finally get a chance to throw javelin and discus, run 400m Hurdles, and do the steeplechase – events that are only contested in the sport of Outdoor T&F. We coaches share their excitement and expect great things from them and all of our 100+ competitors in the coming weeks. The meet tomorrow at Lowell is good sized meet with ample opportunity for us to see where we stand. We're resting a few athletes who raced late in the indoor season, but the team will be there in force to support each other. We will take a few quiet moments as a team before the meet to honor the memory of Nikisha Falcone as well.  She was a great javelin thrower and an even better teammate."

A LOOK AT THE HOSTS
The UMass Lowell men and women both finished in second place behind UAlbany at the 2019 America East Indoor Championships. Paul Hogan powers the River Hawks men's team after being named the conference championship's Most Outstanding Male Track Performer with wins in the 3000m and 5000m runs. The UML graduate student was also named the USTFCCCA Northeast Regional Track Athlete of the Year after earning the America East Championship honor and setting a pair of school records during the indoor season. Junior Kaley Richards won the mile for the UMass Lowell women at the conference championship. UML rookie Isabella Giesing set the top 800m mark in America East during the indoor season with a school-record time of 2:07.91 at the ECAC/IC4A Championships and Danielle Poublon registered a high jump of 1.73m to lead the conference.
 
LOOKING BACK AT THE INDOOR SEASON
Vermont earned a pair of victories on both the men's and women's sides with wins at the Middlebury Winterfell and the North Country All-Comers. The men's 4x200m school record (1:30.75) was set in the second meet of the season at the Dartmouth Relays. Lauren Trumble headlined the Middlebury Winterfell a week later with a 600m facility record of 1:33.79 in UVM's first win of the season. Blake Williams then set the men's 600m school record at the Penn State National Invite with a time of 1:21.83 and Trumble won the 1000m in 2:50.32. The Vermont women won the distance medley relay and 4x800m relays to take center stage at the New England Championships in early February. At the Valentine Invite, Taylor Kracher had the top finish for the Catamounts when he registered third-place in the 500m dash. UVM hosted the North Country All-Comers in the final tune-up before the America East Championships and Morgan Ferland beat her personal-best marks in the weight throw three times with a top toss of 15.66m.
 
At the America East Championships, four Catamounts broke school records as Trumble stole the show with a meet record in the 1000m run (2:45.36) to earn Most Outstanding Female Track Performer. Two school records were then broken at the ECAC/IC4A Championships a week later to close out the indoor schedule.

RECORDS SET INDOORS
Five school records were set by the Catamounts in the 2018-19 indoor track & field season. The men's 4x200m relay team of Will Juniper, Justin Liechty, Alex Parasky, and Seth Beard finished in 1:30.75 at the Dartmouth Relays. A few weeks later, sprinter Blake Williams registered a time of 1:21.83 in the 600m dash at the Penn State National Invite. At the America East Championships, Dan DeBlieck set the 500m school record with a time of 1:03.62 on the first day. Taylor Kracher bested his previous 800m school record a day later with a time of 1:51.11 and Lauren Trumble's championship record-setting performance of 2:45.36 in the 1000m run was also a Vermont record. The Catamounts closed the season with a 400m record by Liechty (48.28s) and a 4x400m relay record by the senior captain along with DeBlieck, Kracher, and Parasky.
 
2019 SCHEDULE AT A GLANCE
After the outdoor season opener at UMass Lowell, the Catamounts split up to a pair of meets at William & Mary (Apr. 5 & 6) and UMass (Apr. 6). Vermont then makes the short trip down I-89 for the Dartmouth Invite (Apr. 12) while a group of Cats stay in Burlington for the Catamount Heptathlon (Apr. 13 & 14). The following week, a contingent of Catamounts travel to Los Angeles for the Mt. SAC Relays/Beach Invite (Apr. 18 – 20) while another group will represent UVM at the Northeastern Invite (Apr. 20). The UNH Pre-Conference Meet (Apr. 27) will be the final tune-up before the America East Championships (May 4 & 5) at UAlbany. Qualifiers for the New England Championships (May 10 & 11) will travel to New Haven, Connecticut a week later.
 
CATAMOUNT HEPTATHLON
Vermont track & field will be hosting the Catamount Heptathlon beginning on Saturday (Apr. 14) and ending Sunday (Apr. 15) at Frank H. Livak Track & Field Facility. The competition will be UVM's first outdoor home meet since the Catamount Invitational in April of 2017. The Cats hosted the North Country All-Comers (Feb. 10) at Gardner-Collins Indoor Track for its lone home meet of the indoor season. Vermont hosted the America East Outdoor Track & Field Championships in 2014 and 2016.
 
2018-19 CAPTAINS
Seniors Will LaCroix, Justin Liechty, and Will Lynch are joined by juniors Dan DeBlieck and Shane O'Connor as captains for the men's team. Morgan Ferland, Anya Gorodentsev, Maggie Mahoney, and Lauren Trumble are senior captains for the women's track & field team along with junior Alex May Curtis.