WATERLOO, N.Y.—The William Smith College rowing team prevailed in all three races—the varsity eight, second varsity eight, and novice four—against the University of Rochester on the Cayuga-Seneca Canal today.
In both eights races, the Herons had fast starts, getting off the line and establishing their leads during the high strokes portion of the start. They settled to aggressive cadences and then began lengthening their leads.
"I think that the 2V had strong execution through the body of their race," Head Coach
Sandra Chu said. "They kept pressing the margin and really only faltered when they hit unexpected increases in the head current. I thought they rowed a cleaner race than last weekend and also were able to execute our race strategy to a much higher level."
The 2V was powered by
Alyssa Deem,
Madeline Cook,
Jackie Steinman,
Elizabeth Warren,
Madelaine Hamilton,
Tatiana Loftus,
Lizzy Houston,
Emma Lubrano, and
Lauren Pomerantz. They clocked in at 8:18.98, more than 24 seconds ahead of the Yellowjackets.
The 1V of
Hannah Glenshaw,
Bridget Kiejna,
Karoline Loretan,
Laurie VanBenschoten,
Annika Linden,
Jennifer Sullivan,
Margaret Cameron,
Anna Moreau, and
Emma Hobika had a harder time increasing its margin through the race but continued to be patiently relentless. They stopped the clock at 7:57.34, just shy of 20 seconds ahead of Rochester.
"I know that they wanted the margin to come more easily and I think the crew did a good job accepting that Rochester was going to hang tough and challenge us to bring our A-game," Chu said. "The 1V was also able to make significant progress in its race execution and we are very much on the right track."
The Heron first and second novice fours finished first and second just 1.37 seconds apart in a three-boat race. Both boats trailed Rochester for the first 1,000 meters. Relying on patience and maintaining good composure, they were able to steadily move into Rochester's margin and prevail in the end. William Smith's first novice four of
Elisabeth Rowedder,
Lindsay Carr,
Giulia Acchione,
Carey Sevier, and
Tori Malamas posted a winning time of 7:45.68. The Yellowjackets were 18 seconds off the pace.
"The fours showed great maturity," Chu said. "It's not easy to continue to be confident when you are down. They trusted their skills and raced the full 2,000. They did not let the first half of the race dictate the outcome."
It was the second race of the weekend for the novice four. The Herons hosted D'Youville's varsity four on Saturday. The Spartans prevailed with a time of 10:01.37. William Smith's novice four of Rowedder, Carr, Acchione,
Catherine DiCara, Malamas was second in 10:12.53 while the Herons also fielded a four comprised of varsity and novice rowers that took third in 11:10.77.
The Herons return to action on Saturday, April 15, when they race against Hamilton, RIT, and Trinity on the Erie Canal.
