DARTMOUTH, Mass. – The UMass Lowell women's cross country team found success at the UMass Dartmouth Invitational on Sunday afternoon, finishing eighth as a squad out of 37 with 288 points. 

"Overall a good day," said Head Coach Gary Gardner. "Great experience for our kids in the varsity race to see how they react with a little pressure."

All seven River Hawks finished the varsity 5K race within the top 100 runners, as sophomore Kylie Marion (Baldwinville, Mass.) led the way with a 25th-place effort and a time of 18:40.65. Freshman Emma Eagan (Danvers, Mass.) and junior Vivian Mac (Randolph, Mass.) were the next to cross the finish line in 60th and 62nd place, respectively. Eagan ran to a 19:22.34 mark, while Mac was not far behind with a time of 19:24.18. 

Another freshman, Emily Burdick (Billerica, Mass.), picked up a 72nd-place finish with a time of 19:34.08, before sophomores Mia Jones (Blacksburg, Va.) and Nubia Pereira (Woburn, Mass.) crossed back-to-back in 83rd and 84th-place, respectively. Jones earned a 19:45.45 mark and Periera came in at 19:46.71. Freshman Lena Takahashi (Holden, Mass.) finished 100th with a time of 20:07.97. 

"In the varsity women's race, I gave poor advice and they got out a little slow," said Gardner. "After that, they were fighting traffic the entire way. I own that one. They ran tough and just were put in a tough position."

In the women's sub-varsity 5K, all five River Hawk racers finished consecutively in the top five positions. Sophomore Mary-Kate Finn (Nashua, N.H.) got the victory (17:44.91), while sophomore Miana Caraballo (Methuen, Mass.) (17:56.28) and senior Hannah Doherty (Billerica, Mass.) (19:18.62) finished in second and third place, respectively. Graduate student Arianna Braccio (Nashua, N.H.) (19:18.67) and junior Kaitlyn Stevens (Oxford, Mass.) (19:58.82) rounded out the top five. 

"Our runners in the sub-varsity races used it as an ice breaker to get ready for future races," said Gardner. "They were excellent for both teams and I look forward to seeing them race for real in a few weeks."

Next up, the River Hawks will travel to Boston for the Battle in Beantown on September 29.