April 8, 2004

GENEVA, N.Y.—The Hobart and William Smith Colleges’ crew teams will host the Rochester Institute of Technology on April 10, on the Cayuga-Seneca Canal. This is the first of two home regattas for the Statesmen and Herons this season.

The men’s freshmen eight race will start things off at 11 a.m., featuring Hobart and RIT boats as well as an RIT Light crew. The women’s second varsity eight will hit the water next at 11:10 a.m., while the women’s first varsity eight race will follow thirty minutes later at 11:40 a.m.

The Statesmen and Tigers will battle in the men’s varsity eight race at 11:50 a.m., while the Heron and Tiger novices start their race at 12:30 p.m.

Featuring a pair of boats from RIT and one from Hobart, the second freshmen eight will wrap things up at 12:40 p.m.

Hobart enters this weekend’s race after putting on two strong showings to open the 2004 season. The Statesmen stunned 13th-ranked Michigan in the first weekend of racing and beat Ithaca by nine seconds to secure the Statesmen Duel Race Trophy last week. Hobart swept the Tigers in 2003, winning each of the three races by at least 20 seconds.

William Smith is coming off a good performance at Ithaca, where they fell to the fourth-ranked Bombers but beat out Pacific Lutheran and Hamilton for a pair of second place finishes. Against the Tigers in 2003, the Herons jumped out to a lead after the first 1,000 meters, but were unable to hang on, losing by .56 seconds.

The Statesmen and Heron squads welcome all alumni and alumnae to the event this weekend. Light food and beverages will be provided at the Hellstrom Boathouse, starting at 11:30 a.m.

nging Ithaca when they encountered an equipment problem at the halfway point and were unable to finish.