United States Coast Guard Academy - Department of Athletics - Women's Crew

WORCESTER, MASS.--(3/31/07)--The US Coast Guard Academy women's rowing team opened their season Saturday with strong performances under perfect conditions on Lake Quinsigamond.

Competing against Divison I Holy Cross and Divison III Wesleyan University and Mt. Holyoke, the Bears women's varsity 8 (ranked #5 in the CRCA/NCAA Division III polls) started off the day of racing finishing three seconds ahead of Holy Cross in a time of 6:56.5 while beating Mt. Holyoke and Wesleyan by 13 and 20 seconds respectively. Off the line, the Bears were third with a conservative start but quickly found their rhythm and pulled level with the leader, Holy Cross, by the 1000m mark. During the second half of the race, CGA established themselves as the leader and extended their lead while maintaining a stroke rate under the rest of the field. The Varsity 8 was comprised of Christy Davis (Sr), Heidi Schmidt (Sr), Lauren Milici (Jr), Emily Holt (Jr), Adriana Knies (Jr), Sarah Southard (Jr), Maggie Ward (So), Sarah Thompson (So), and Kelly Haupt (Sr).

The women's varsity second varsity 8 came off the line extremely well and battled for the lead until the 1000 meter mark but could not match the finishing power of Holy Cross and lost by 15 seconds in a time of 7:30.3 but finished ahead of DIII rival Mt. Holyoke by 22 seconds. The Second Varsity 8 consisted of Margaret Brown (Sr), Kate Gillen (So), Rory Keegan (So), Lelea Littlefield (So), Shannon McElroy (Jr), Alyssa VanDelden (So), Ashley Stone (So), Nikki Dillinger (So), and Stephanie Young (Sr).

The women's novice 8's posted an impressive race in their season opener. With only one rower with high school rowing experience, the boat of ‘walk-ons’ raced aggressively over the 2000m course maintaining contact for much of the first half of the race. Over the second half of the race, although working hard, the Bears fell of the pace finishing third (7:56.7) behind Holy Cross and Mt. Holyoke but ahead of Holy Cross’s second novice eight. The Novice 8 consisted of Jess Vogel (Fr), Loren Derrico (Fr), Kate McHenry (Fr), Sarah Bradley (Fr), Ashley Lerner (So), Caitlin Cunningham (Fr), Francesca Smith (Sr), Hayla Dubolsky (Fr), and Yahaira Cervantes (Fr).

The Bears will host Trinity College next Saturday morning, April 7, on the Thames.