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The Spectator
Women's Crew looks forward to ECAC Championship
By Riley Smith '12Sports Writer
Women's crew upped its game in its last two regattas, performing well against RIT and in the New York State Championships, which were held last weekend. Two weeks ago, the women's Varsity 8 took first place against RIT in a regatta in Rome on the Erie Canal. The boat consisted of coxswain Sophie Breene '12, Kendall Scott '10 at stroke, Allie Boyaris '12, Erika Desmond '12, Spencer Gulbronson '12, Sarah Weatherall '12, Holly Bailey '12, Helen Quigley '10 and Jenn Anderson '10 at the bow. The Varsity 8 crossed the finish line with a 7:03.76 for the 2,000-meter race. RIT followed with a time of 7:19.99. Hamilton's second Varsity 8 "caught a crab" that hurt its time, finishing at 7:36.06. The crab, caused by a rower losing control of her oar, seriously slowed the speed of the boat and made it more difficult to catch up to the RIT crew. The Novice A and B boats finished with times of 7:19.41 and 7:24.40 times, respectively, close behind RIT's wining time of 7:15.11.
This past weekend, the team took the water again, this time on Whitney Point Lake, NY at the New York State Championships, where the women's Varsity 8 finished in a tie for fifth place. Hamilton also won "Most Improved Team" in point standings, which fulfilled Coach Eric Summer's expectations that the young team would be gaining momentum and learning from its experience throughout the year. The first Varsity 8 finished with a 7:10.68 in its heat to qualify for finals, in which it placed sixth with a time of 7:11.14. The second Varsity 8 boat finished fifth with a time of 7:35. Further, the novice 8 finished fourth in the Grand finals with a 7:36.93 and the novice four surprised the team and finished in second place with a time of 8:49.58. This was the last race for the novice four, so securing a silver medal was an excellent way to end their year. Captain Christine Raia '10 was extremely proud of the boat's effort. "They came in second place, winning silver medals and since this was their last race, they couldn't have finished their season any better," said Raia. "They gave that race everything they had; they put it all on the line and have silver medals to show for it." Even Coach Summers commented in practice that the novice four, consisting of Laura Boynton '12 as coxswain, Catherine Florea 11' at stroke, Alice Dannenberg '11, Catherine Prescott '12 and Manique Tallia Murray '12 at the bow seat, had the best race he's seen so far at Hamilton.
The team is now looking forward to the ECAC Championships in Camden N.J., held May 9 and 10 and hopes to approach the championships with the same competitive drive that served as an impetus for the novice four last weekend.