April 19, 2003

HAMILTON, N.Y.--The William Smith Varsity 8+ retained the Seneca Cup this weekend with a nearly seven second victory over local rival Colgate University. The University of Buffalo also raced the Herons and Raiders, finishing 1.3 seconds ahead of William Smith.

The annual race between William Smith and Colgate, the Seneca Cup, belonged to the Herons. William Smith built an impressive lead over the first 1,000 meters of the 1,500-meter race, turning in a time of 5:10.3. Colgate crossed the line in 5:17.0.

Buffalo won the varsity 8+ race in 5:09.0, but had to hold off a hard charging Heron boat over the final 500 meters.

Senior Heather Hawkins (Shattuck-St. Mary's School/Eagan, Minn.), junior Libby Weick (Fairport/Fairport, N.Y.), junior Julie Deprez (The Bancroft School/Paxton, Mass.), junior Lexie Kuser (The Peddie School/Bordentown, N.J.), senior Liz Aumand (Massena/Massena, N.Y.), junior Ashley Bergland (St. Andrew's School/Houston, Texas), junior Lauren Ulvestad (Breck School/Shorewood, Minn.), first-year Cassie Priest (King & Low-Heywood Thomas School/Stamford, Conn.), sophomore Penelope Davenport (St. Andrew's School/Upperville, Va.)represented William Smith in the varsity boat.

"Our racing showed an impressive turn-around from last week," Head Coach Sandra Chu said. "The varsity raced with much more confidence today and was able to put up an excellent margin against Buffalo. I feel strongly that we're making the right kind of progress toward postseason competition and picking up speed each week."

Buffalo also took the second varsity 8+ and the novice 8+ race. William Smith took second in the second varsity 8+ race, just .5 seconds ahead of Colgate, while the Raiders finished second in the novice 8+ race.

Varsity 8+
Buffalo: 5:09
WS: 5:10.3
Colgate: 5:17.0

Second Varsity 8+
Buffalo: 5:19.5
WS: 5:25.3
C: 5:25.8

Novice 8+
Buffalo: 5:21.5
Colgate: 5:29.5
WS: 5:33.3

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