Women's Rowing | 5/9/2011 1:30:00 PM
LAKE QUINSIGAMOND, WORCESTER, MA – The women's crew team raced Sunday, May 8 at the ECAC National Invitational Rowing Championships in Worcester, Mass. The Tigers fielded a varsity and novice 8, garnering recognition for the program with their best championship race finish in the last decade. After several noteworthy finishes during the season, the novice 8 continued their surge and ignited the ECAC regatta with a bronze medal result in the grand final.
The novice 8 had a smooth morning heat, finishing second to secure advancement to the grand final. They crossed the line in 7:04.934, advancing with Trinity (6:53. 653) and Mount Holyoke (7:17.776). The first heat of novices saw crews from Williams, Holy Cross and Tufts also advance to the grand final.
"Going into the final it was about seeing how much further we could push ourselves,” said first year five seat #
Devan Musa (Ithaca, NY/Ithaca)#. “As a boat, we had worked hard to get ourselves to that point and it was time to leave it all on the water. It was about enjoying rowing together, for each other and the rest of our teammates."
The Tigers were strong off the line and quickly positioned the boat in medal contention. It was a hard-fought battle for third as the Tigers held Holy Cross at bay for the majority of the race before moving out on the Crusaders in the sprint to secure the bronze medal with a time of 7:21.137. RIT was powered by coxswain #
Wendy Gutcher (Fairfax Station, VA/South County)#, stroke #
Nicole Conway (Canandaigua, NY/Canandaigua Academy)#, seven seat #
Reba Conway (Grand Island/Buffalo Academy of the Sacred Heart)#, six seat #
Kristin Roberts (Skaneateles, NY/Skaneateles)#, five seat #
Devan Musa (Ithaca, NY/Ithaca)#, four seat
Dani Absi (Cleveland, OH/Bay Village), three seat #
Sarah Hadley (Monument, CO/Lewis Palmer)#, two seat #
Sam Deakin (Clarence, NY/Clarence) and bow ()Shelby Mancuso (Torrington, CT/Torrington)#. Williams took gold, crossing the line in 7:01.675, followed by Trinity (7:08.071) in second.
The varsity 8 finished seventh in their heat, posting a time of 7:26.803. In the afternoon final, they finished third with a time of 7:47.111, behind Tulane (7:21.312) and Connecticut College (7:30.595). The Tigers line-up was comprised of coxswain #
Eileen Kobal (Erie, PA/Fairview)#, stroke #
Sabine Loebner (Leisning, Germany/Lessing-Gymnasium Doebeln)#, seven seat #
Ashley Pastor (Poughkeepsie, NY/F.D. Roosevelt)#, six seat #
Sam Whalen (Westfield, MA/Westfield)#, five seat
Anne Wapshare (Blasdell, NY/Immaculata Academy), four seat #
Morgan Mowins (Fayetteville, NY/Fayetteville-Manlius )#, three seat #
Alex Kilgore (Lancaster, NY/Lancaster)#, two seat #
Celia Garland (Wolfeboro, NH)#, and bow #
Emily Burns (Annapolis, MD/Broadneck)#.
Four oarswomen concluded their collegiate rowing careers for the Tigers this year: fourth year environmental science major
Ashley Pastor (Poughkeepsie, NY/F.D. Roosevelt); tri-captain
Carol Records (North Kingstown, RI/North Kingstown), a second year business management major; third year biomedical sciences major and dual sport athlete (basketball) for the Tigers, Anne Wapshare; and tri-captain
Samantha Whalen (Westfield, MA/Westfield), a third year student in the physician assistant program.
Closing out an exciting sprint season, the Tigers look to continue to build program speed as RIT enters the Liberty League this fall.
