The William Smith College rowing team will open the spring portion of its racing schedule on the Cayuga Inlet on Saturday, March 31 in Ithaca, N.Y.

It will be a showdown of nationally ranked teams as the Herons are No. 10 in the latest CRCA/USRowing Coaches poll, the Bombers are No. 4, RIT is No. 5 and Mercyhurst is receiving votes in the Division II poll.

"It's always a pleasure to meet up with our Liberty League opponent and host, Ithaca, for an early-season race," said William Smith Head Coach Sandra Chu. "We had a very successful training trip during spring break last week, and we're looking forward to seeing our work in action. The team as a whole has been ferocious in their pursuit of speed and I'm very excited about this weekend's racing."

Saturday's racing will begin with the Heron and Bomber varsity eights at 10:24 a.m. At 11:04 a.m., William Smith's second varsity eight will take on Ithaca's second varsity eight. The winner of the William Smith vs. Ithaca varsity eight race will face the winner of the Mercyhurst vs. RIT varsity eight race at 1:24 p.m., and the remaining two teams will square off at 1:32 p.m. The Heron third varsity eight will face the Bombers at 2:04 or 2:12 p.m.

Following this weekend's action, William Smith will take on No. 9 Wellesley College, No. 3 Williams College and MIT on Saturday, April 7 in Wellesley, Mass.