BOSTON, MA – The University at Buffalo women's rowing team completed the fall schedule over the weekend at the Foot of the Charles Regatta, held along the Charles River in Boston, as rainy conditions and 15 mph winds greeted the rowers. Three of the 13 schools that the Bulls competed against at the Boston meet raced in the 2008 NCAA Championships, Brown, Radcliffe and Dartmouth, making for an extremely competitive field.
Two of UB's entries in the Varsity Four competition finished among the top 10 with the A boat taking seventh among 46 crews in 14:18.8 while the B boat was ninth in 14:25.5. Rowing in the A boat were coxswain Alison Sheehan, Rosa Kemp, Danielle Carlino, Alana Sharpe and Sasha Bailey . In the B boat was coxswain Kate Evely, Tara Rudkoski, Shannon David, Cathleen Streicher and Samantha Masucci . UB's C boat (15:07.5) placed 25th while the D boat (15:09.7) placed 28th, giving UB four finishers among the top 28. Only 2008 NCAA Championship finalist Brown, with five, posted more top 28 finshers than the Bulls. The Bulls also sent two lightweight crews into the Varsity Four race.
UB's Varsity Eight finished third among eight squads in its race. The Bulls finished in 13:48.0, less than four seconds behind first-place Northeastern (13:44.8) and two and a half seconds behind second-place Brown (13:45.5). The UB boat consisted of coxswain Alison Sheehan, Patricia Arcuri, Dakota Smith, Mary Karl, Shenita McLean, Rebecca Rayter, Francisca Nwoke, Jacklyn Postulka and Stephanie Szymanski .
UB's entry in the Novice Eight race finished seventh of 26 crews in 14:31.0. The entry included coxswain Kara Buchheit, Sarah Gallagher, Liz Murphy, Kylie Lewis, Melissa James, Deb Garth, Lauren Benz, Sam Shojaie andJamie Varble. UB finished 14 seconds ahead of eight-place Northeastern, the first time that the Bulls had ever finished ahead of the Huskies in novice competition.
"These were some of the most significant results we've ever had," said head coach Rudy Wieler. Commenting on the Varsity Four race, Wieler said, "For the first time ever we got two crews in the top 10. We've never even had one." Last season's top Varsity Four entry placed 13th.
"We performed at a very competitive level against those schools," said Wieler. "We made a major breakthrough."
The Bulls return to the water with their spring training session from March 5-14 in Oak Ridge, TN. UB's next competitions are slated for March 27 with the lightweights returning to Boston to face Radcliffe and the remainder of the crews traveling to Indianapolis for races against Indiana, Eastern Michigan, Notre Dame and Purdue.