GOLD RIVER, Calif. - The University of Massachusetts continued its NCAA Championships slate with semifinal action at the Sacramento State Aquatic Center in Gold River, Calif., Saturday. The Second Varsity 8+ placed second in its race for a berth into the "C" final Sunday while the Varsity 8+ finished fourth and the Varsity 4+ took fifth as both boats moved to their respective "D" finals.

A strong semifinal race by the Second Varsity 8+ highlighted the morning's events for the Minutewomen. Haley Eovine, Rachel Boudreau, Samantha Wonderlin, Katherine Armstrong, Hadley Irvin, Krysten Menks, Zoe Hill, Natalie Boisvert and Grace Bundy overcame Notre Dame, Central Florida and Jacksonville for the second place in its C/D semifinal and crossed in 6:57.555. The Minutewomen trailed Notre Dame with 500 meters remaining but put together a clean finish and outpaced the Irish to the line by less than four-tenths of a second.

The Varsity 8+ matched up with Central Florida, Gonzaga, Navy and USC in the semifinals and took fourth with a 7:01.997 finish. Heather Pekarovich, Lauren St. Pierre, Emily Mann, Marika Kopp, Pippa Edwards, Aiste Balciunaite, Nicole Destefano, Haley York and Allanah Rubi-Mooney battled with Central Florida for third place and a berth into the "C" finals throughout the race before UCF crossed ahead of the Minutewomen in 6:56.434 for the last spot in the "C" final Sunday.

The Varsity 4+ closed the morning with fifth in its semifinal against Harvard, Gonzaga, Northeastern and USC. Abigail Raichek, Hallie Dunlap, Mia Bornstein, Courtney Edson and Estefi Marti-Malvido earned a time of 7:57.683 in the race.

The University of Massachusetts concludes 2015 NCAA Championships competition Sunday with three races. The Varsity 4+ will be the first UMass boat in action at 11:30 a.m. The Second Varsity 8+ starts at approximately Noon while the Varsity 8+ follows at 12:10 p.m.