BOSTON—The William Smith rowing team battled the Charles River and trying weather conditions in the Head of the Charles Regatta this weekend. The varsity eight finished 10th out of 35 crews in the Collegiate Eight event today.
"I was particularly pleased by the varsity eight's ability to keep their focus at this venue in such challenging weather conditions," Head Coach
Sandra Chu said. "The crew was dynamic in its ability to adjust to the harsh temperatures as well as the strength of the competition. Pushed early by Grand Valley State, the Herons held them off until Eliot [bridge], using all of their tools to stay in the fight. Coxswain
Abbie DiPalma steered aggressive, efficient lines, getting the most out of this talented crew."
The Herons—DiPalma,
Kirsten Cooper,
Alaria Pizzo,
Claire Brown,
Jamie Billington,
Kara Ruskin,
Tess Wiggins,
Emily Desmery, and
Maggie Smith—battled frigid temperatures and heavy rains as they navigated the 3-mile course in 18 minutes, 47.618 seconds. William Smith finished ahead of Liberty League rivals Rochester (15th), Hamilton (20th), St. Lawrence (22nd), Vassar (30th), and Union (33rd).
The Grand Valley State won the Collegiate Eight event with a winning time of 17:47.325. (
Complete Collegiate Eight Results)
On Saturday, the William Smith varsity four—
Kim Goral,
Laura Cappio,
Jenna Lohre,
Cassandra Pearce, and
Cassie Becker— came in 23rd out of 29 in the Collegiate Fours event. The Herons rowed the course in 21:19.788; Trinity College won the event in 19:15.668. (
Complete Collegiate Four Results)
"The four rowed a solid race and clearly rowed very hard," Chu said. "They were relatively clean in rough conditions. I feel like they have had some better rows than this at home in terms of their ability to risk a little more and row on the edge but overall, I felt it was a good showing for a very young boat."
The William Smith Alumnae Eight
A group of William Smith alumnae entered the Alumni Eights Women event. Virginia Cannon '09, Hannah Gallup'08, Katherine Faherty '09, Jessica Mahon '08, Frances Parsons '06, Rebecca Gutwin '06, Jenn Kirst '08, Jane Detwiler '00, and Anne Wakeman '09 had to stop twice on the course, but still placed ninth out of 20 crews. They posted a time of 19:03.747, 10.17 percent behind the winning time of the Virginia alumnae. (
Complete Alumni Eights Women Results)
William Smith will wrap up its fall racing season on Oct. 25 in the Head of the Fish.