Ronan Repeats as 1,500m Champion at America East Conference Meet

Sunday, May 10

Lowell, Mass.

9 AM

University of New Hampshire

America East Championships

Claire Ronan winning the 1,500m at the 2025 America East Outdoor Track & Field Championships

Photo by: Ryan Moran

Ronan Repeats as 1,500m Champion at America East Conference Meet

5/10/2026 8:57:00 PM | Women's Track & Field

LOWELL, Mass – Grad student Claire Ronan (Port Jefferson Station, N.Y.) of the University of New Hampshire women's track & field team won the 1,500-meter run for the second consecutive year at the 2026 America East Outdoor Championships, which concluded Sunday at UMass Lowell. UNH finished fifth in the team standings with 105 points.

UAlbany won the meet with 188 points and was followed by UMBC (142), Bryant University (121.5) and Binghamton University (114). The University of Vermont (62), UMass Lowell (52.5), University of Maine (40) and NJIT (33) completed the standings.

In the two days, UNH earned a total of seven medals with a breakdown of two gold, three silver and two bronze.

Sophomore Emma Reaves (Westminster, Md.) recorded a total of 22 points in three events with second place in both the shot put and hammer and third place in the discus. The top competitor at the championships had 22.5 points.

"I'm so proud of this team, which has been led by seniors who have given so much to the program," said Anna Magle-Haberek, the director of the women's and men's track & field and cross country programs. "We had some incredible performances in both days of the conference championships."

CLICK HERE to view PDF results. CLICK HERE for online results.

Ronan won gold in the 1,500m for the second consecutive year with a personal-best time of 4 minutes, 24.89 seconds. She was on the outside shoulder of the leader through the 300m, 700m and 1,100m intervals. Ronan surged to the lead in the back straightaway, extended her lead in turns three and four, and cruised to victory in the final 50 meters. She ran the fastest 400m split of all 12 runners with a 1:06.73 on the last lap.

Ronan is the first athlete to win back-to-back women's 1,500m titles since UNH Hall of Fame inductee and two-time Olympian Elle Purrier in 2015 and 2016.

The quartet of sophomore Mariam Nada (Portsmouth, N.H.), sophomore Eva Roberts (Derry, N.H.), junior Audrey Thornton (Reading, Mass.) and sophomore Sarah Moore (Lisbon, Maine) broke their own school record in the 4x100m relay with a time of 46.23 seconds. That fourth-place effort bested the previous benchmark of 46.62 established last season.

Reaves placed second in the shot put with a throw of 13.60m (44 feet-7.50 inches) that she recorded on her first attempt. She went on to finish third in the discus with a personal-best mark of 48.61m (159-5) that she threw in the second round.

Junior Briana Danis (Hooksett, N.H.) and sophomore Ruby Prentiss (Falmouth, Maine) finished fourth and sixth, respectively, in the discus. Danis was already in fourth place when she unleashed a personal-best throw of 47.96m (157-4) on her last attempt. Prentiss also recorded a personal best with a mark of 42.03m (137-10) in the first round.

Freshman Tayla Pelletier (Windham, Maine), who recorded personal bests in both the 100 hurdles and 400 hurdles on Sunday, tied for third place in the high jump – there were 19 competitors in the event – by clearing a height of 1.61m (5-3.75).

Senior Makena Lee (Northwood, N.H.) placed fourth among 16 competitors in the pole vault by clearing the bar at 3.64m (11-11.25). After passing on the first two heights, Lee advanced on the first attempt at 3.34m, 3.49m and 3.64m.

Senior Kristen Kirk (Augusta, Maine) took fifth place in the heptathlon with 4,217 points. She recorded 609 points in the long jump with a leap of 5.18m, 592 points in the 800m (2:38.31) and 542 points in the javelin with a mark of 33.45m.

Moore raced to sixth place in the 200m final with a personal-best time of 24.21 seconds that topped the school record of 24.74 but does not enter the record book as the new benchmark because it was wind-aided by more than 2.0 meters/second at +4.5 m/s.

Nada took eighth place in the 100m final by crossing the finish line with a personal-best time of 11.86 seconds.

UNH's 4x800m relay team of senior Ella Malone (Barrington, N.H.), junior Reagan Hoy (Surry, N.H), sophomore Juliana Sciortino (Niskayuna, N.Y.) and Ronan finished seventh in 9:22.43. Ronan ran the fastest 800m split of 2:15.28.

The quartet of senior Liliana Chirichella (Troy, N.H.), grad student Katie Lennox (Hampton Falls, N.H.), sophomore Brooke White (Barnet, Vt.) and Thornton took eighth place in the 4x400m relay. Thornton recorded the fastest 400m split of 58.43.

UNH Results

1,500m
- Ronan, 1^st place, 4:24.89
Shot Put
- Reaves, 2^nd place, 13.60m (44-7.5)
- Prentiss, 10^th place, 12.26m (40-2.75)
- Payton Goulding (Cumberland, R.I.), 15^th place, 11.32m (37-1.75)
Discus
- Reaves, 3^rd place, 48.61m (159-5)
- Danis, 4^th place, 47.96m (157-4)
- Prentiss, 6^th place, 42.03m (137-10)
High Jump
- Pelletier, tie 3^rd place, 1.61m (5-3.75)
- Sydney Valenti (Plymouth, N.H.), 9^th place, 1.56m (5-1.25)
- Natalia Rothwell (Acton, Maine), tie 12^th place, 1.56m (5-1.25)
Pole Vault
- Lee, 4^th place, 3.64m (11-11.75)
4x100m Relay
- Nada, Roberts, Thornton, Moore – 4^th place, 46.23 -- SCHOOL RECORD
Heptathlon
- Kirk, 5^th place, 4,217 points
- Kailey Dillon (Merrimack, N.H.), 9^th place, 4,007 points
- Maddox Lovely (Newport, N.H.), 10^th place, 3,465 points
200m
- Moore, 6^th place, 24.21
4x800m Relay
- Malone, Hoy, Sciortino, Ronan – 7^th place, 9:22.43
100m
- Nada, 8^th place, 11.86
4x400m Relay
- Chirichella, Lennox, White, Thornton – 8^th place, 3:59.29
Triple Jump
- Autumn Agri (Stratham, N.H.), 13^th place, 11.10m (36-5)
- Ava Mullen (Webster, N.H.), 15^th place, 10.99m (36-0.75)
5,000m
- Bailey Hall (Yardley, Pa.), 16^th place, 18:20