Results

The UMass Lowell women's rowing varsity four 'A' and 'B' teams defeated Mass Maritime Saturday morning in the first edition of the 2012 River Hawk Racing Series on the Merrimack River.

The UMass Lowell 'A' team raced the 2,000 meter course in 8 minutes, 3.0 seconds to edge out UMass Lowell's 'B' team (8:19) and Mass Maritime (8:54).

Leading the UMass Lowell 'A' team was senior coxswain Irene Cassidy (Methuen, Mass.), seniors Amanda Murray (West Newbury, Mass.) and Kerry Siebert (Byfield, Mass.); and freshmen Rachel Piela (Amherst, Mass.) and Jenna Bueno (Methuen, Mass.).

Leading the 'B' squad was sophomore coxswain Rachel Paquette (Dracut, Mass.); juniors Kim Haskins (Taunton, Mass.) and Melinda Neale (Plaistow, N.H.); and sophomores Bridget Mahoney (Dracut, Mass.) and Megan McLaughlin (Haverhill, Mass.).

“My squad 'plays nicely' together, but they need to understand that real progress comes from absolutely challenging each other every day, every stroke,” said head coach Veronika Platzer. “They are starting to do that and it's just what we need to go into next week's extremely competitive races against the top New England programs.”

In the novice race, UMass Lowell's Novice Four 'A' team completed the course in 8:22, to defeat the River Hawk 'B' team (8:33). The Novice 'A' team included Paquette, Bueno, freshmen Erinn McLaughlin (Lowell, Mass.) and Meredith Swan (Gloucester, Mass.); and sophomore Katie Judd (Lynnfield, Mass.).

The 'B' novices were represented by Cassidy, Murray, Piela, Siebert and Haskins.

UMass Lowell hosts the River Hawk Racing Series II next Saturday (10:00) with Colby College, Coast Guard, Franklin Pierce and Mass Maritime.