GENEVA, N.Y.—The No. 12 William Smith College rowing team battled No. 4 Hamilton and No. 9 RIT today on the Cayuga-Seneca Canal. The Heron second varsity eight led the way finishing second. The William Smith varsity eight and the third varsity eight took third place.
 
Waters were calm with a moderate head current and the temperatures were cold but not unbearable.  Leading off racing, the 2V of first-year Susan Hurwitz, first-year Emma Falkenstein, first-year Taryn Wenberg, senior Carey Sevier, sophomore Tori Malamas, senior Nicole Guardino, first-year Gillian Casserly, sophomore Catherine DiCara, sophomore Giulia Acchione produced the best showing of the day.  Displaying what is becoming its signature composure, they raced steady and earned a second place in their race with a time of 7:54.40. Hamilton finished first, pulling a 7:51.19 and third place RIT finished in 7:55.01.  While they were leading at the 1000, the Heron second varsity eight was unable to hold onto its lead.  
 
"We're extremely glad we got to host our Liberty League partner, RIT and NYS colleague, Hamilton," said Head Coach Sandra Chu. "The Continentals had a very strong squad today and the Tigers also had great depth through their three boats. We did many things well today including adjusting to line-up changes between yesterday and today due to illnesses. Without our entire squad healthy, I was impressed with the way our team stepped up to the have their teammates' backs.  At the same time, while we had some good moments, overall we continue to have issues replicating practice performances on race day.  This is a challenge for both staff and rowers and we are committed to developing this consistency.  Next weekend's racing in Worcester gives us the perfect opportunity to do this with its heats/finals format on Saturday and then new opponents on the same course on Sunday."
 
The Heron varsity eight powered by sophomore Elisabeth Rowedder, sophomore Anna Moreau, sophomore Annika Linden, senior Elizabeth Warren, first-year Sarah Laferrera, senior Jennifer Sullivan, first-year Julia Walters, sophomore Emma Lubrano, and first-year Molly Dexter finished in third place with a time of 7:38.991. Hamilton with a time of 7:28.051 and RIT was second in 7:31.391.
 
William Smith's third varsity eight of senior Alysssa Deem, junior Alicia Lai, junior Katie Frohman, sophomore Tori Malamas, junior Tatiana Loftus, first-year Emma Rosser, first-year Holly Notartomaso, DiCara, and junior Tori Wissa also took third. The Herons had a time of 8:28.589. The Tigers won the race in 8:01.679, and the Continentals came in second in 8:10.639.
 
The Herons will be back in action April 21-22 in Worcester, Mass. The Herons will race against Clark, Colby, Ithaca, Trinity, UNH, Connecticut College and WPI on Saturday, and Tufts, Clark, WPI and Skidmore on Sunday.