October 8, 2006

ROCHESTER, N.Y.—The William Smith crew competed in the Head of the Genesee today. The varsity eight was third in the collegiate division (9th overall), while the varsity four was fifth, the only Division III team in the field.

The varsity eight of Nicole Balsamo, Lauren Brady, Hannah Gallup, Lucinda Keck, Jenn Kirst, Julie Kozarsky, Jessica Mahon, Kerry O'Neill, and Anne Wakeman finished third in the collegiate division with a combined time of 31:04.58 behind Brock University of St. Catherines, Ontario (31:15.25) and defending Division III national champion Williams College (31:03.01).

The William Smith varsity eight won a bronze medal at the Head of the Genesee.

The varsity four of Alexandra Bowers, Kenzie Cannon, Michelle Dodge, Emily Maguire, and Jessica Wojslaw finished fifth in 35:36.82.

As opposed to previous years, only half of the crews racing in the morning were allowed to progress to the afternoon’s 1,500-meter sprint. The Heron second varsity eight, which finished 30th, did not progress out of the morning races.

"All the crews raced very strongly today,” William Smith Head Coach Sandra Chu said. “In the morning head race, the varsity eight was the first DIII boat across the line, beating Williams by one second and Ithaca by nine. The four had an extremely aggressive morning race and was also the first DIII boat across the line.

“In afternoon sprints, we were lucky to be paired with Cornell whose size and sprint speed really pushed us in the eight. A similar pairing against Syracuse in the four also helped hold the bar high for us. I have to be really pleased with these results. The team raced technically clean and powerful races. To be only seven tenths of a second behind the national champs over 1,500 meters puts us in a great position this year."

William Smith is back on the water when the Herons co-host the HWS Challenge on the Canal on Oct. 14.

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