Women's Rowing | 10/29/2008 12:45:00 PM

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY - The RIT women's crew squad closed out the fall season Sunday with strong showings at the Head of the Fish Regatta on Fish Creek.

The RIT's varsity 4, featuring coxswain #Hannah Westall (Williamstown, NY/Mt. Greylock)#, stroke Allison La Chance, three seat #Ashley Pastor (Poughkeepsie, NY/F.D. Roosevelt)#, two seat #Deborah Howell (Fulton, MD/Reservoir) and bow (Westfield, MA/Westfield)Alex King#, finished sixth in the Collegiate 4+ event. Their time of 14:02.65 was less than one second off fifth place University of Massachusetts.

Head Coach Fredyne Yust was more than pleased with the varsity four's performance.

“One of our goals this weekend was to have our strongest race of the season, and we did that," said Yust. "The girls have worked hard in practice to come together as a boat and push themselves out of their comfort zone. Today they left everything on the water and had a great race that showed their technical and physical strength.”

Williams College “A” (13:23.49), Colgate University (13:48.83), Williams College “B” (13:51.39) and Marist College “B” (13:53.99) rounded out the top four boats.

In the Collegiate Novice 8 event, RIT's “A” boat of coxswain #Eileen Kobal (Erie, PA/Fairview)#, stroke #Ariel Leitao (Newton, MA/Tabor Academy)#, seven seat #Allison Doster (Syracuse, NY/LaFayette)#, six seat Amelia Province, five seat #Erica Gantz (Rosendale, NY/Rondout Valley)#, four seat #Kristina Lozar (Brooklyn, NY/Adelphi Academy)#, three seat #Carly Speck ()#, two seat #Emily Burns (Annapolis, MD/Broadneck) and bow (Westfield, MA/Westfield)Erin Mooney (Dayton, OH/Oakwood)# powered down the course for a ninth place finish with a time of 13:45.50. With 42 boats in the field, the top ten finish ranks RIT among some of the best collegiate novice boats. Williams won the event in 12:48.13. Only two second separated RIT and sixth place William Smith, and the Tigers finished 20 seconds ahead of St. Lawrence.

“The commitment this boat has shown to each other is vital to their strong finish today;" said Yust. "We set out to narrow the gap between us and some of our strongest competition, and did more than that. To be in the top 10 with three Division I programs is quite an accomplishment, and speaks volumes for the potential we have for the spring.”

RIT's second novice boat, comprised of coxswain Dawn Phan, stroke Kelsey Wall, seven seat Sam Whalan, six seat Steph Crespo, five seat #Hannah Westall (Williamstown, NY/Mt. Greylock)#, four seat Brianne Campi (Flemington, NJ/Princeton Tiger Lillies), three seat Su Lu, two seat #Amanda Wells and bow (Westfield, MA/Westfield)Kim Trumpore#, had their first race at the Fish. After a solid body of the piece, a boat passing RIT just before the finish turned into RIT's boat and made contact. As a result, RIT was disqualified. Yust explained, “Although we did not cause the collision, because our boat did not alter its course to give way for the passing boat, our boat was penalized. While it's disappointing to be disqualified, I couldn't be prouder of the good strokes the boat put together in the race and the hard work they did all season to prepare for the Fish. The girls were disheartened by the outcome, but hopefully in hindsight they'll be able to move past it. Rowing is about learning from experiences—both good and bad. Winning is nice, but it's easy to deal with and you don't necessarily learn anything. Having an experience like we had is a huge opportunity to grow, get stronger and better.”

RIT's only gold medal finishes at the Head of the Fish came from alumnus Mike Sivigny '97. After winning a silver medal at the Head of the Charles last weekend racing against some of the world's most elite rowers, Sivigny won fish heads in the men's open single event and the men's open double on Saturday at the Fish. He then headed down to Philly to race Sunday in the Head of the Schuylkill, where he garnered another gold medal.

Yust hopes to build off the success the women's team has had this fall as they begin to prepare for the spring sprint season. “This is one of the strongest groups ever for the women's team, with a large number of recruited and walk-on novices and a core group of veterans. They're tight-knit, and based on the dedication they've shown this fall, they're more than capable of the hard work necessary this winter to be among the top boats come May.”