The UMass Lowell varsity four rowing team turned in a solid performance earning a ninth place finish in a field of 17 at the Textile River Regatta, Sunday afternoon, on the Merrimack River.
 
The varsity four, in their first competition of the season, covered the six-thousand meter course in a time of 25-minutes and 26-seconds.  Bowdoin College won the varsity four in a time of 23:08.  Rochester Institute of Technology was second, Worcester Polytechnic Institute finished third.
 
The varsity four lead by junior coxswain Rachel Paquette (Dracut, Mass.) included seniors Melinda Neale (Plaistow, N. H.) and Kim Haskins (Taunton, Mass.) and sophomores Jenna Bueno (Methuen, Mass.) and Rachel Piela (Amherst, Mass.)
 
Coach Veronika Platzer was pleased with the performance. “”It was really solid, they placed well in an extremely competitive field,” according to Platzer.  “It's about setting goals and then achieving them, and that's what they did today.”
 
Sophomore Erinn McLaughlin (Lowell, Mass.) faced no competition in the women's open singles.  She took the gold medal rowing the course in a time of 29:37.
 
The UMass Lowell women's pairs, juniors Bridget Mahoney (Dracut, Mass.) and Megan McLaughlin (Haverhill, Mass.) finished fourth in a field of five completing the course in a time of 29:04.
 
“Everybody's working on their boat skills, we keep chipping away at it,” said Platzer.  “You've got to just try to keep inching ahead.  It was a solid performance.”
 
UMass Lowell prepares for the New Hampshire Championships, Sunday, Oct. 14, in Pembroke, N. H.