GORHAM, Maine – The University of Southern Maine women's track & field team will be looking to win its sixth straight conference outdoor title at the Little East Conference Outdoor Championships on Saturday at Eastern Connecticut State University. The meet is scheduled to start at 10:00 am at the Mansfield Outdoor Complex.
 
The Huskies have two athletes who will be defending their event titles from last year's meet in seniors Riley Reitchel (Palermo, Maine/Erskine Academy) and Alexis Karantza (Westbrook, Maine). Reitchel won the javelin last season with a throw of 41.48m and won the title as a freshman in 2023. Karantza has won the 400-meter hurdles in each of the past two seasons. Her time at last season's championship was 1:06.17. Reitchel is the current conference leader in her event with a throw of 40.66m that ranks 24th in NCAA Division III this season. Karantza's season-best time of 1:05.06 ranks second in the conference.
 
Senior Jaigan Boudreau (Dayton, Maine/Thornton Academy) enters the meet with the top marks in the conference in the shot put with a throw of 12.84m that is tied for 46th nationally. She also ranks second in the conference in the discus with a throw of 39.80m. Boudreau won conference titles in both events in 2022 and placed second in both events in 2024 and 2025.
 
Freshman Emma O'Brien (Aurora, Colo./Eaglecrest) also sit on top of the conference leaderboard in an event as the conference leader in the pole vault with a mark of 3.30m. Reitchel, who placed second at last year's meet, ranks second with a mark of 3.10m.
 
Senior Janiah Young (Perkinsville, Vt./Windsor) is top sprinter for the Huskies and currently ranks second in the conference in the 200 meters with a time of 25.30 seconds. She also ranks fourth in the 100-meter dash at 12.40 seconds. Young won the conference title in both events as a freshman in 2023 and won her second 100-meter title in 2024. Last season, she placed second in the 100 meters (12.11 seconds) and third in the 200 meters (24.83 seconds) with personal-best times in each event.
 
Additional runners to keep an eye for the Huskies include freshman Florence Guimont (Boisbriand, Quebec/Laval Senior), freshman Madi Sainis (Pierrefords, Quebec), junior Gwen Catalano (Buxton, Maine/Bonny Eagle) and sophomore Saya Breiting-Brown (Portland, Maine/Deering). Each athlete holds a top five mark in the conference in at least one event.
Guimont ranks second in the 3000-meter steeplechase with a time of 12:10.77. Sainis ranks third in the 1500 meters with a time of 4:57.24. Catalano ranks third in the 5000 meters with a time of 18:23.46 and is tied for fifth in the 1500 meters with a time of 4:59.66. She placed fifth in the 1500 meters last season with a time of 5:09.18 and seventh in the 5000 meters with a time of 19:33.83. Breiting-Brown placed third last season in the 100-meter hurdles and currently ranks fourth in the conference with a time of 15.44 seconds.
 
 
When and Where: 10:00 am - Saturday, April 25, 2026 – Mansfield Outdoor Complex
 
Participating Teams: Southern Maine, Eastern Connecticut State, Keene State, Plymouth State, Rhode Island College, UMass Boston, UMass Dartmouth, VTSU Castleton and Western Connecticut State.
 
History: The Huskies have won 24 LEC outdoor championships.