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Women's Crew - Big Day for Bears on Merrimack River |
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 Lauren Milici and the Varsity 8 won a pair of races.
Originally scheduled to be a tri-regatta, host UMass-Lowell had to pull out of the regatta, turning the day into a dual meet with Colby. Mother Nature held off the winds and offered only occasionally bits of rain until racing finished. Racing started out with a combined event of the Varsity 4 and Novice 4, with all three Coast Guard entries beating Colby. The N4 “A” boat finished first in a time of 7:05.5, a strong showing for Natalie Shuntich (’12, cox’n), Katie Ward (’12), Holly Madden (’12), Erin Nolan (’12), and Emily Balingit-Clark (’12).
The N4 “B” boat, with Christa Funk (’12, cox’n), Tiffany Zehnle (’12), Katie Preising (’12), Christine Roselli (’12), and Juliana Harvin (’12), finished second in a time of 7:24.6. Coxed by Sarah Troch (’12), the V4 boat, consisted of 2 Varsity rowers, Yahiara Cervantes (‘10) and Rachel Douglas (‘10), and 2 Novice rowers, Tara Mead (’12) and Beki Redstone (’11), finished 3rd in a time of 7:31.8.
The strong current forced the race aligners to resort to a countdown start and all boats were not aligned at the start, with approximately 1 boat length separating the lead and rear shells.
The Varsity 8 posted their first and second win of the season racing two races against Colby. The 1V consisted of Cate Gillen (‘09), Kelli Normolye (‘12), Maggie Ward (‘09), Lauren Milici (’09), Sarah Jane Otey (‘11), Kate Dacimo (‘11), Sarah Thompson (‘09), Rachel Thomas (‘12), and Rory Keegan (‘09). Racing was tight in the first race through the starting 1000 meters, when the Bears made a strong shift and opened up on Colby. They finished the first race in a time of 6:44.8, six seconds ahead of Colby. They then paddled back to the start to do it all over again. In the second race, Coast Guard led from the start to finish, for their second win of the morning.
In the final race of the day, the Coast Guard Novice 8 took on the Colby 2V. Coast Guard powered away at the start and were up by a boat length at the 1000 meter mark. Colby made a strong push in the 3rd 500, but the Coast Guard sprint was too much for them to match and Coast Guard finished in a time of 7:05.8 beating Colby by nine seconds.
For most of the rowers it was their second race of the day. Christa Funk, Tiffany Zehnle, Juliana Harvin, Katie Ward, Holly Madden, Erin Nolan, Emily Balingit-Clark, Katie Preising, and Fallon Bowers, all members of the class of 2012, combined for the win.
Coast Guard returns to Lake Quinsigamond next weekend to compete in the NEWMAC championships on Saturday; then battles for the champion of the Thames River against Conn College on Sunday.
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