Race Results

ROCHESTER, N.Y.—The William Smith rowing team's novice eight earned a silver medal at the Head of the Genesee today. The youngest Herons proved to be the most successful on just their second day of collegiate racing.

The Head of the Genesee combines a 5,000-meter head race in the morning with a 1,500-meter sprint in the afternoon. The sprint time is tripled and added to the head race time for a total time.

In the women's novice eight division, William Smith produced a time of 19 minutes, 49.7 seconds in the morning, trailing only Division I Buffalo (19:21.93) in the six-crew field. Marietta was third, nearly 20 seconds behind the Herons. William Smith's novice eight was powered by Arianna White, Christine Reighley, Lauren Blake-Whitney, Sinead Reilly, Katie Paige, Katie Lehmann, Carly Ellis, Emily Hartung, and Ava Pavao.

"The novices, of course, had a very impressive race, putting into play the strong fundamentals they've learned over the past five weeks," Head Coach Sandra Chu said. "Assistant Coach Jodi Hope's direction with the team has been excellent."

In the women's open four division, the Herons placed eight overall and second among Division III crews. They notched a head race time of 20:47.43, followed by a sprint of 5:54.08. Cornell (34:28.21) won the division, while fourth place Hamilton (36:48.28) was the top DIII entry.  William Smith (38:29.67) was well ahead of ninth place Geneseo (39:56.21) in the 14-boat field.

In the women's collegiate eight division, the Herons finished fifth overall  in 34:10.16. Ithaca (32:59.59) won the race, followed by Mercyhurst (32:59.59), St. Lawrence (33:41.64) and Rochester (33:51.70). William Smith was ahead of the Yellowjackets in the morning but incurred a 10-second buoy violation during the spring that allowed them to slip past the Herons. William Smith's second varsity eight finished 12th (36:24.96) in the 16-boat field.

"The squad has specific goals in terms of the quality of its racing," Chu said "Every boat made great strides in those areas. We make great progress every day and made some nice steps from last week's race so I am confident we are on the right track."

The Herons will be back on the water, Oct. 23-24, when they compete in the Head of the Charles.