BURLINGTON, Vt.  –  The UMass Lowell women's cross country team took another step in the process of putting the pieces in place with a solid showing at the 5K dual meet against the University of Vermont, Saturday, in Red Rocks Park in Burlington, Vt.

"It was a matter of seeing how we stacked up against a good Vermont team," said Head Coach Gary Gardner.  "I was looking for little pieces of progress and I found them."

It is all part of the process of building depth on a team that is young.

Vermont won the meet, topping the River Hawks 15-50.  Catamount junior Alicia Clark was the first across the finish line, completing the course in a time of 18-minutes and 15-seconds.  The first eight finishers wore the Vermont colors.

Junior Megan Mahoney (Billerica, Mass.) was the first River hawk finisher.  She grabbed eighth in the scoring with a time of 19:40.

"She did a great job," said Gardner.  "She hasn't had a bad race."

Junior Kelsey O'Driscoll (New Providence, N.J.) was two seconds behind her teammate.  She was ninth among scoring runners with a time of 19:42.  Just 16 second later, freshman Marissa Richards (Lowell, Mass.) crossed the finish line to claim 10th position among scoring runners with a time of 19:58.

"Marissa (Richards) ran really solid," said Gardner about the runner who has battled minor injuries.  "We just wanted to get her back on track."

Sophomore Renee Vigneault (Amesbury, Mass.) was 11th among scoring runners with a time of 20:08.

Freshman Kathryn Loughnane (North Attleboro, Mass.) completed the course in a time of 20:48 good enough for 12th among scoring runners.

The River Hawks are off next week as they prepare for the New England Championship at Franklin Park in Boston on Saturday, October 11.