Women's Track and Field Set to Battle for A-10 Title on Home Turf

Meet Seven	Atlantic 10 Championships
Date \| Time	Saturday, May 6, 2017 – Sunday, May 7, 2017 - 8:45 a.m./10:15 a.m.
Location	Amherst, Mass. (UMass Track & Field Complex)
Teams Competing	Davidson, Dayton, Duquesne, Fordham, George Mason, George Washington, La Salle, Rhode Island, Richmond, Saint Joseph's, Saint Louis, VCU
Schedule \| Results	Meet Schedule \| Live Results

This Weekend's Competition
- This Saturday and Sunday, the Minutewomen will vie for the Atlantic 10 title on home soil as the squad plays host to the Atlantic 10 Championships at the UMass Track & Field Complex in Amhest. Last year's outdoor championship saw a fifth place finish for the UMass. Events will begin on Saturday at 8:45 a.m. with the 10,000 meter run and on Sunday with the heptathlon long jump at 10:15 a.m.
- The following Minutewomen rank among the top-three on the A-10 performance lists heading into the championship weekend: Emilie Cowan (1^st, 400m), Heather MacLean (1^st 800m; 1^st, 1,500m), Jada Harris (2^nd, 100H), Colleen Sands (3^rd, 3,000m steeplechase), Samantha Thompson (3^rd, high jump) and Kelsey Crawford (2^nd javelin; 3^rd, shot put).

Last Time Out
-Eight first-place finishes helped propel the University of Massachusetts women's track and field team to a victory at its own Pre-Conference Meet at the UMass Track & Field Complex last Saturday afternoon (193 points).
-Redshirt junior Heather MacLean broke the facility record in the 800 meter run with a time of 2:06.65, more than three seconds ahead of her closest competitor.
- Sophomore Emilie Cowan won the 400 meter dash with a time of 53.71 seconds to break her own school record, which was just short of the facility record of 53.55. Cowan also set the fourth-fastest time in UMass history in the 200 meter dash, taking first at 24.71 seconds.
-Freshman Jada Harris crossed the finish line in 13.95 seconds in the 100 meter hurdles to win the event and post the second fastest time in program history.
-In the field events, senior Sara Wagner led a 1-2-3 UMass sweep in hammer throw with a New England-qualifying toss of 162 feet, 7 inches, good for fourth in program history.

Returning Depth
- The Minutewomen return nine individuals to the 2016-17 roster who scored in events at the 2016 Atlantic 10 Outdoor Championships including sophomore Emilie Cowan who concluded her 2016 outdoor campaign at the USATF Junior National Championships in Clovis, California.
- These returnees include 2016 medalists Emilie Cowan (200m, 500m), Gabrielle Bennett (60m hurdle), Kelsey Crawford (shot put, javelin), Bridget Deveau (javelin) and Colleen Sands (3,000m steeplechase).

Cowan Looks to Build Off Successful Rookie Year
- In 2016, her first collegiate outdoor track season, Emilie Cowan made her way to the UMass record book with a top time in 400m and a fourth all-time performance in the 800m.
- At the outdoor Atlantic 10 Championships, Cowan earned the title of Atlantic 10 Champion in 500 meter dash, finishing with a time of 1:12.95. Cowan returned to the track to earn a second title in 200 meter dash, winning the event with a time of 25.02 seconds
- At the NCAA Preliminary Championships, Cowan ran under 54 seconds in the 400m for the second time in her career and is the only Minutewoman in program history to do so. The Maplewood, N.J., native crossed the finish line in 53.96 seconds, good for 36th in the field of 48 as the time was just shy of breaking her own school record of 53.92
- The Maplewood, New Jersey, native concluded her 2016 outdoor track campaign at the USATF Junior National Championships in Clovis, California where she competed in the 400m. Cowan finished 12th in the prelims with a time of 54.36, narrowly missing an advance to the final.

Welcome Aboard
- UMass has added a talented freshman class to the roster for the 2017 season. The group features six individuals who will compete in jumps for the Minutewomen, three sprinters, two distance and one middle distance runner, one hurdler and one multi-event athlete.
- New additions to the UMass roster debut for outdoor track: Ashley Arroyo (Jumps – Kingston, Mass./Silver Lake Regional HS), Kayla Blair (Mid Distance – Swanzey, N.H./Monadnock HS), Taylor Blow (XC/Distance – Westhampton, Mass./Hampshire Regional HS), Kate Dorsey - (Distance - Glen Ellyn, Ill./Glenbard West HS), Sarah Endyke (Sprints/Jumps - Hingham, Mass./Hingham HS), Jada Harris (Hurdles/Jumps - Trumbull, Conn./Saint Joseph HS), Sophia Holman (Multi - Lunenburg, Mass./Luneneburg HS), Moriah Newcomb (Sprints/Jumps - Brewer, Maine/ Brewer HS), Samantha Thompson (Jumps - Weston Mass./Weston HS) and Lindsay Witt (Jumps/Sprints - Princeton Mass./Wachusett Regional HS)
- Senior Julia Weithofer has joined the track and field program, as well, following the completion of her women's soccer career at UMass where she was a four-year starter for the Minutewomen as a midfielder/defender.

Schedule Overview
- The Minutewomen will travel to Williamstown, Massachusetts for the New England Championships on May 12-13, while those individuals qualifying for the NCAA East Preliminary Championships will travel to Lexington, Kentucky May 25-27.

LaFreniere at the Helm
- UMass Head Coach Julie LaFreniere is in her 30th year as head coach of the women's cross country and track and field programs in 2017.
- LaFreniere, a 1977 UMass graduate, has led the Minutewomen to 12 Atlantic 10 Championships (7 Cross Country, 3 Indoor Track, 2 Outdoor Track) during her tenure and is a 12-time Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year.

Scoreboard

Women's Track and Field Set to Battle for A-10 Title on Home Turf

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Ashley Arroyo

Gabrielle Bennett

Kayla Blair

Taylor Blow

Emilie Cowan

Kelsey Crawford

Bridget Deveau

Kate Dorsey

Sarah Endyke

Jada Harris

Sophia Holman

Heather MacLean

Moriah Newcomb

Colleen Sands

Samantha Thompson

Sara Wagner

Julia Weithofer

Lindsay Witt

Scoreboard

University of Massachusets Athletics