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For the second race in as many days, UMass Lowell captured both the varsity and novice four races Sunday morning at the Clark University regatta.

UMass Lowell won the varsity fours race in 8 minutes, 44 seconds for the 2,000 meter course and defeated Schenectady County Community College (9:20.4) and Assumption (9:49.3).

Leading UMass Lowell was senior coxswain Irene Cassidy (Methuen, Mass.) along with seniors Amanda Murray (West Newbury, Mass.) and Kerry Siebert (Byfield, Mass.); junior Melinda Neale (Plaistow, N.H.) and freshman Jenna Bueno (Methuen, Mass.).

UMass Lowell captured the Novice Four race in 8:44.6 and remains unbeaten ion three regattas this spring. The River Hawks cruised past Mount Holyoke (9:25.8) and Clark University (9:29.2).

UMass Lowell's Novice Fours included sophomore coxswain Rachel Paquette (Dracut, Mass.), Bueno, freshmen Erinn McLaughlin (Lowell, Mass.), Meredith Swan (Gloucester, Mass.) and sophomore Katie Judd (Lynnfield, Mass.).

“This was the first of two consecutive weekends of back to back racing against top ranked opponents,” said head coach Veronika Platzer. “I am extremely pleased that we have the fitness and mental fortitude to race flat out in four tough races. Much like yesterday, the eight dismantled and jumped into fours and raced to overwhelming victories in both the Novice Four and Varsity Four.”

In the Varsity Eight, UMass Lowell placed fifth in the six-team field with a time of 7:41.1. Simmons College won the race in 7:15.1 while Franklin & Marshall took second in 7:24.1, Union third (7:34.1) and Mount Holyoke fourth (7:37.2). Clark placed sixth in 7:59.1.

Only seven seconds separated places 3-5.

“To put this race and result in perspective, we raced the exact same opponents last year and came in last,” said Platzer. “We were nowhere near the pack, while this year, the spread between third, fourth and fifth was less than eight seconds. We can run with this pack but need to work on that “overdrive” gear to move to the front.

“We raced with a long, dynamic rhythm which kept us in the pack but our cadence (strokes per minute) was a bit lower than the rest of the field and in the end, we couldn't close the gap,” she added.

Leading the eights were Cassidy, Murray, Neale, Bueno, Siebert, Haskins, Megan McLaughlin, sophomore Bridget Mahoney (Dracut, Mass.) and freshman Rachael Piela (Amherst, Mass.).

“This was a very solid race against a two of the top New England Varsity Eight programs,” said Platzer. “We knew we couldn't keep pace with Coast Guard, but we set our sights on hanging with Colby, which we did for most of the race. We lost to them by 10 seconds which is a significant improvement from last year's margin of 30 seconds.”

UMass Lowell returns home next Saturday to host the River Hawk Racing Series 3 with Vermont, Bowdoin, Franklin Pierce, Bryant University. On Sunday, UMass Lowell returns to Worcester to face Amherst, Wentworth Institute of Technology, Mass Maritime and Brandeis.