The William Smith rowing team's silver medal in the third varsity eight event at the New York State Collegiate Rowing Championships translated into a share of the Liberty League Boat of the Week Award.

The Herons entered Saturday's finals only race as the No. 3 seed, but slipped across the finish line 82 hundredths of a second ahead of St. Lawrence to secure the silver medal. William Smith covered the 2,000-meter course in 7 minutes, 48.04 seconds. Just a week earlier, the Saints had posted a time 7.1 seconds faster than the Herons.

The William Smith third varsity eight was powered by first-year Kim Goral, first-year Syd Cheney, sophomore Sara Hollingshead, first-year Sarah Gordon, first-year Madison Finley, sophomore Cassandra Pearce, first-year Irini Stamatiou, junior Nora Devine-Carter, and first-year Leila Peraro.

The Herons will be back on the water on May 9, when they compete in the ECAC Championships in Worcester, Mass.