May 13, 2007

WHITNEY POINT, N.Y.—High winds forced the cancellation of the majority of racing at the 2007 ECAC Rowing Championships on Whitney Point Lake.

The William Smith varsity eight got off to a bumpy start on Saturday afternoon, finishing third in its opening heat behind Bates and Mary Washington. The Herons covered the 2,000-meter course in 6 minutes, 49.844 seconds, just 0.702 seconds behind the winning Bobcats.

In Sunday morning's semifinals, William Smith, which entered the weekend with the second-ranked varsity eight in the nation, bounced back with a second-place showing, trailing only top-ranked Williams. Both the Herons and Ephs would have met again in the grand final had the wind not whipped up the waves.

"The varsity eight recovered very well from a bad heat on Saturday," Head Coach Sandra Chu said. "They were able to overcome some issues of handling rough waters and did a fantastic job this morning, showing the extra speed in the semifinals."

William Smith's second varsity eight raced in the final official race of the day, placing fifth in its heat (7:13.670) to merit a spot in the petite final.

The Herons' next event is graduation. The team's four seniors, who missed commencement exercises today, will receive their degrees in a special commencement at 10:30 a.m. on May 14 in St. John's Chapel.

William Smith hopes to close out its racing season, May 25-26, in the NCAA Division III Championships in Oakridge, Tenn. Championship selections will be announced on May 15.

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