June 24, 2005

Coach of the Year Sandra Chu

GENEVA, N.Y.—The William Smith crew team swept the Liberty League Women’s Crew postseason awards. Head Coach Sandra Chu was named the conference’s Coach of the Year for the second straight season, while the Herons also secured the Crew of the Year and the Novice Crew of the Year awards.

In her third season at the helm, Chu helped the Herons to a successful spring season. Under her guidance the varsity 8+ captured a pair of victories and a runner-up finish in six races. In a makeshift regatta after the league championships were cancelled, the varsity 8+ outraced conference foes Vassar and Union. The second varsity 8+ also has flourished, earning three wins and one runner-up. The novice boats finished the year undefeated, including a gold medal in the novice 4+ race at the New York State Championships.

The William Smith varsity 8+ of sophomore Mandy Lassell (Noble & Greenough/Walpole, Mass.), first-year Jessica Mahon (Rhinebeck/Rhinebeck, N.Y.), sophomore Laura Batchelor (Brookline/Brookline, Mass.), junior Cassie Priest (King & Low-Heywood Thomas/Stamford, Conn.), junior Edwina Wilson (Churchill/Westport, Conn.), first-year Courtney Cioffredi (Lebanon/Lebanon, N.H.), sophomore Nicole Balsamo (Newton Country Day/Centerville, Mass.), sophomore Liz Staino (Poughkeepsie/Poughkeepsie, N.Y.), and sophomore Lauren Brady (Westover School/Ridgefield, Conn.) also advanced to the grand final of the New York State Championships, finishing fourth behind Division I schools Marist and Colgate and eventual national champion Ithaca.

Balsamo, Batchelor, Priest, and Wilson were a part of the 2004 Liberty League Crew of the Year, as well.

The novice 8+ comprised of first-years Julie Kozarsky (Shawnee/Medford, N.J.), Jennifer Kirst (The Principia Upper School/Darien, Conn.), Jessica Wojslaw (Norwalk/Norwalk, Conn.), Megan Seiter (Providence Country Day/Riverside, R.I.), Lucinda Keck (Lawrenceville School/Princeton, N.J.), Whitney Hayre (Sherwood/Olney, Md.), Jennifer Lever (Edward Little/Auburn, Maine), Hannah Gallup (Holy Names/Alameda, Calif.), and Cioffredi were outstanding all season, pulling through the spring unscathed, while winning the Wylie Coyote Chase in the fall.

At the annual Heron Awards Banquet on May 3, the novice 8+ received the Crew Coach’s Award. Normally presented to an individual for performance beyond her potential on a consistent basis, the novice team earned the award by evolving from a group of tentative walk-ons into ferocious racers and exemplary teammates.

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