LOWELL, Mass. – Four River Hawks have been named to the America East Outdoor Track and Field All-Academic Team.  The announcement was made by the conference this morning.
 
Senior Jaclyn Solimine (Haverhill, Mass.) juniors Kerstin Darsney (Rowley, Mass.) and Alli Wood (Chelmsford, Mass.) and sophomore Chelsea Owusu (Shrewsbury, Mass.) were recognized for their performances on and off the track and named to the Women's Track and Field All-Academic Team. 
 
"We had a good year on the track and we had a good year in the classroom," said Track and Field Head Coach Gary Gardner.  "The whole team is like that.  It shows that we are recruiting the right kids for the right reasons."
 
The All-Academic team consists of 11 people.  UMass Lowell was the only school with four individuals on the team.  No other school had more than two.
 
"I attribute a lot of this to the staff that believes in kids who are good students," said Gardner.  "(Athletic Academic Coordinator) Mike Anderson is very support.  He comes to our meets, makes himself available to help students and they are not afraid to go to him if they need help."
 
Jaclyn Solimine, with a 3.88 grade point average, is an honor student majoring in Mechanical Engineering.  She won the 2017 UMass Lowell Scholar-Athlete Award as the graduating senior with the highest GPA.  Solimine has been on the Dean's List in every semester at UMass Lowell.  She won the Craig Douglas Award for her work in the University's Research Lab.  She is a member of Tau Beta Pi, the Engineering Honor Society, Pi Tau Sigma, the mechanical Engineering Honors Society and Omicron Delta Kappa, the National Leadership Honors Society. 
 
"She has always set an example on the track and in the classroom," according to Gardner.  "The way she has grown over her four years here has been incredible."
 
Solimine had a strong year on the track.  She won the 10,000 and the 5,000-meters at the America East Outdoor Championships and was named the Most Outstanding Female Track Performer.  She has finished in the top six in every race this season ranging from 1,500 to 10,000-meters.
 
Kerstin Darsney is a history major with a 3.95 grade point average.  Coming back from injuries that sidelined her for nearly a year, Darsney turned in a strong showing at the America East Outdoor Championships.  She won the conference title in the high jump with a school record leap of five-feet, 10¾-inches and followed that up, less than an hour later with a win in the triple jump.  Darsney was named America East's Most Outstanding Female Field Performer of the Year.   She also won the triple jump at the IC4A/ECAC Championships, the first UMass Lowell woman to grab an ECAC Championship.
 
Middle distance runner Alli Wood, with a 3.91 grade point average, is a Nursing major.  She has been selected to be a member of the ODK Honors Society.  She has earned recognition on the Dean's List in each of her semesters at UMass Lowell.  Despite injuries that limited her season, Wood had a strong outdoor season.  She earned All-America East honors with a second place finish in the 800-meters at the Outdoor Championships.  She was also part of the 4 x 800-meter relay team that took a fourth place finish at the Championships.  Wood grabbed first place finishes in the 800-meters at the George Davis Invitational and at the UNH Meet.
 
Sprinter Chelsea Owusu, with a 3.72 grade point average, is majoring in Business Administration.  Owusu had a strong outdoor season.  She won the AE Championship in the 400-meters with a school record time of 54.82-seconds.  She also won the event at the Pre-Conference Meet at UMass-Amherst and at the UNH Meet.