Women's Rowing | 3/29/2009 2:57:00 PM

ROCHESTER, NY - The RIT women's crew squad opened the spring sprint season on Saturday, taking on St. Lawrence University on the Genesee River. With excellent conditions and minimal current, the 1,700m course was fast but relatively comparable to a 2,000m distance.

The morning began with hotly contested racing in the novice 8 event. With RIT up, St. Lawrence wandered into RIT's lane, causing a slight clashing of oars that occurred past the 500m point of breakage. Both boats overcorrected their courses, with St. Lawrence quickly getting back their point to surge half a boat length ahead. RIT lost its rhythm as St. Lawrence gained open water, but regained it for the final push to the finish line. Although they were screaming down the course to overtake St. Lawrence, RIT's bow ball was at the Saints' two seat as St. Lawrence crossed the line. RIT's time of 7:32.35 was just off St. Lawrence's winning time of 7:30.98. The Tigers novice 8 was comprised of coxswain #Eileen Kobal (Erie, PA/Fairview)#, stroke #Ariel Leitao (Newton, MA/Tabor Academy)#, seven seat #Erin Mooney (Dayton, OH/Oakwood)#, six seat #Erica Gantz (Rosendale, NY/Rondout Valley)#, five seat #Kristina Lozar (Brooklyn, NY/Adelphi Academy)#, four seat #Allison Doster (Syracuse, NY/LaFayette)#, three seat #Anne Wapshare (Blasdell, NY/Immaculata Academy)#, two seat #Emily Burns (Annapolis, MD/Broadneck) and bow (Westfield, MA/Westfield)Samantha Whalen (Westfield, MA/Westfield)#. The boat gained valuable racing experience that they will utilize throughout the season.

RIT also raced a varsity 8, combining varsity and novice rowers. The line-up featured coxswain #Hannah Westall (Williamstown, NY/Mt. Greylock)#, stroke #Ashley Pastor (Poughkeepsie, NY/F.D. Roosevelt)#, seven seat #Samantha Whalen (Westfield, MA/Westfield)#, six seat Alex King (Wilmington, DE/St. Elizabeth), five seat #Kristina Lozar (Brooklyn, NY/Adelphi Academy)#, four seat #Ariel Leitao (Newton, MA/Tabor Academy)#, three seat #Deborah Howell (Fulton, MD/Reservoir)#, two seat #Emily Burns (Annapolis, MD/Broadneck) and bow (Westfield, MA/Westfield)Erin Mooney (Dayton, OH/Oakwood)#. The varsity 8 finished behind St. Lawrence's 1v and 2v, racing the course in 7:23.74. Although the boat had trouble settling into race pace, they put on a solid sprint that closed the gap between them and the 2v as they approached the finish. St. Lawrence's 1v won with a time of 6:51.46.

The Tigers are in action next weekend both Saturday and Sunday. Saturday they travel to Ithaca (with Rochester and Skidmore), and Sunday they are back in Rochester, taking on Rochester and William Smith on Rochester's city course.