EASTON, MA (Oct. 21, 2007) – Junior Christina DaLomba (Marstons Mills, MA) placed fourth and freshman Lyra Clark (Nashua, NH) was named the Freshman Athlete of the Year to lead the UMass Lowell women’s cross country team to second at the Northeast-10 Conference championship Sunday at Stonehill College.

The River Hawks scored 49 points (4, 5, 9, 11, 19 – 34, 35) and placed second to the host Skyhawks, who scored 38 points (3, 6, 7, 10, 12 – 16, 17). The finish marked the second straight year and third time in the last four years UML finished as the runner-up.

Bentley placed third with 67 points and was followed by Southern Connecticut (149), Merrimack (170), Saint Rose (187) and Saint Michael’s (196).

The race drew all 15 NE-10 colleges and a field of 131 runners.

DaLomba ran the 5K course in 19 minutes, 2.5 seconds and earned all-conference honors for the third time in her career (second team in 2004, first team in 2005 and 2006).

Clark placed fifth overall in 19:08.9 and became the third UML runner to earn Freshman of the Year honors since the 2002 season, joining Nicole Plante (2002) and Emily Thomas (Foxboro, MA) (2005).

Senior Amanda Sousa (Peabody, MA) placed ninth overall in 19:29.3 while freshman Sarah Bonomo (Tewksbury, MA) placed 11th in 19:42.1. Sousa enjoyed her third year on the NE-10 all-conference teams, including her second year on the First Team.

Freshman Elizabeth Carr (Randolph, MA) earned Third Team honors, placing 19th in 19:58.3, to round out UML’s top five.

Juniors Sarah Merullo (Wakefield, MA) and Thomas placed 34th and 35th, respectively. Merullo ran the course in 20:41.3 while Thomas was close behind in 20:42.4.

The River Hawks enter the NCAA Northeast Regional Championship Saturday, Nov. 4 at Van Cortlandt Park in Riverdale, NY.