The William Smith College rowing team competed against Williams College, Wellesley College, and the University of New Hampshire on Fish Creek in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. The Herons took second in three of the day's four races.
"We're very fortunate to have the support of Saratoga Rowing Association and the opportunity to use their course at this time of year," William Smith Head Coach
Sandra Chu said. "This was a great early-season race for us and one which will help us to identify strengths and weaknesses going forward."
The varsity eight race featured three nationally-ranked crews, the top-ranked Ephs, the No. 3 Herons, and the No. 5 Blue. Williams prevailed on the 2,000-meter course with a time of 6:51.1. William Smith was 4.1 seconds behind in 6:55.2 with Wellesley taking third and New Hampshire fourth.
The Heron third varsity eight—
Emily Davidowitz,
Morgan Burgess,
Eliza Orrick,
Amanda Reusch,
Emma Tiedemann,
Candace Carducci,
Anola Stage,
Amelia Littleton, and
Alanna Dugan—came the closest to topping Williams. The Ephs won the race in 7:22.9 with William Smith just 1.97 seconds behind. Wellesley took third (7:28.86).
The William Smith novice eight—
Susan Tuvell,
Nikki Andrzejczyk,
Brianna Taylor,
Grace Hutton,
Megan Miskovsky,
Catharine Pirie,
Alex Belden,
Karly Wagner, and
Sammi Hurwitz—also finished second to Williams. The Herons were 6.8 seconds off the Ephs' time of 7:24.2. They pulled through the Blue on the final stroke to clip Wellesley by 0.5 seconds. The Wildcats were a distance fourth.
In the second varsity eight race, Williams completed its sweep in 7:18.2 with New Hampshire, William Smith, and Wellesley completing the field.
"All of our boats raced very well today," Chu said. "I'm particularly pleased with how they were able to respond to the push of the opposition—each boat had points in their racing when they could have backed down, and where last weekend they did, this weekend they didn't. That's a great step in just a week."
The Herons will be back on the water on Saturday, April 13 when they race at Hamilton.
