April 2, 2005

GENEVA, N.Y.—Racing in challenging conditions, the William Smith College crew team dropped both their varsity races to defending national champion Ithaca College this morning. The first novice and third varsity eights both beat Ithaca on the Herons’ home course to round out the day with a 2-2 record.

The women's varsity eight race saw Ithaca, Marist and William Smith bow ball to bow ball for the first 250 meters, but then the fifth-ranked Herons lost their rhythm. Ithaca and Marist continued to match each other stroke for stroke down the course, but William Smith could not get back on track, finishing in third place with a time of 7:59.6. Second-ranked Ithaca won the race in 7:26.2, while Marist covered the course in 7:27.4 for the runner-up spot. Racing in the Herons’ top boat today was coxswain Mandy Lassell, Cassie Priest, Laura Batchelor, Jessica Mahon, Nicole Balsamo, Liz Staino, Lauren Brady, Sarah Powell, and bow Edwina Wilson.

"The first varsity boat had huge heart, great courage and a ton of strength today,” Head Coach Sandra Chu said. “We never gave up. We did not row smart, however, and that cost the boat its rhythm and run. I do not feel that this margin accurately reflects the true speed of the varsity eight.”

The second varsity eight of coxswain Sunny Lord, Hannah Gallup, Susie Tarrant, Courtney Cioffredi, Megan Hyland, Kathryn Loddengaard, Carrie Miller, Sarah Loomis, and bow Michelle Dodge led the way in the opening 1000 meters, but a short loss of focus in the second 500 opened the door to the Bombers who crossed the line at 7:35.7. The Herons continued to fight and pushed their bow ball over the line at 7:45.3, nearly 23 seconds ahead of third-place Marist.

The novice boat began the day well, overcoming miserably wet and cold conditions to finish with a winning time of 7:52.0. They outraced Marist by 31 seconds and trounced Ithaca by 39.6 seconds. In the last 500 meters, Ithaca was bested by the extremely choppy water and caught an over-the-head crab which enabled William Smith to move out even further from their commanding lead.

In the second to last race of the day, the women's third varsity eight, featuring coxswain Sunny Lord, Jen Kirst, Megan Seiter, Kacy Cerasoli, Megan Hyland, Krystn Lake, Cristina Mulcahy, Cate Elgert, and bow Carrie Miller, led the race from the very first stroke. Once out in front, they never looked back, crossing the line in 8:02.8. Ithaca came in second with a time of 8:28.2.

"The first varsity's loss should not stand in the way of the praise, which is well-deserved, of both the novice 8 and the 3V, both of whom rowed with great composure,” Chu said. “Their ability to be relaxed during their race enabled them to row with risk, a concept we have been working on in practices."

The Herons are back in action on April 16th when they race Skidmore and Middlebury at Skidmore and on April 17th when they compete against RPI, RIT, WPI and Tufts in Worcester, Mass.

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