May 4, 2003

RICHMOND, Va. --- The University of Massachusetts women's outdoor track and field team placed fifth at the A-10 Outdoor Track and Field Championship. Rhode Island won the conference meet, earning the A-10 title for the second straight year.

UMass was led on Sunday by senior Jen Freemas' (Wallingford, Pa.) gold medal performance in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles at 1:01.93. Freemas, who also won the event at the 2001 A-10 Outdoor Track and Field Championship, automatically qualified for the NCAA Regional meet with the first place victory.

Sophomore Christina Huff (Springfield, Mass.) also recorded solid finishes for UMass, placing third in the 100-meter dash at 12.02 and fifth in the 200-meter dash at 24.71. Huff's time in the 100-meter dash ranks second in the Massachusetts record books, trailing only Keri Fleischmann's 12.00 finish in 1988.

The Minutewomen recorded a solid showing in the heptathlon on Sunday, claiming three top five finishes. Senior Crystal Therrien (Fairhaven, Mass.) finished third with 4,287 points while junior Nastaran Shams (Swamscott, Mass.) placed fourth (3,951) and freshman Ashley Creel (Sandwich, Mass.) recorded a fifth place finish (3,769).

Massachusetts will next compete in the New England Outdoor Track and Field Championship May 9 in Durham, N.H.

Final Team Scores: 1. Rhode Island, 207.50; 2. Richmond, 136.50; 3. Temple, 114; 4. Duquesne, 97; 5. Massachusetts, 96; 6. Dayton, 88; 7. Saint Joseph's, 64; 8. La Salle, 39; 9. Fordham, 16.