Women's Rowing | 10/3/2011 4:36:00 PM

LOWELL, MA - The RIT women's crew opened their fall season Sunday, October 2 at the Textile River Regatta. RIT's two women's varsity eights proved to the field why they are going to be a crew to contend with as a new member in the Liberty League and on the national stage with a pair of strong finishes.

The Tigers posted a ninth and 13th place finish respectively in a competitive, eighteen boat field. Leading the charge in the “Happy Day” was coxswain #Wendy Gutcher (Fairfax Station, VA/South County)#, followed by sroke seat, #Kristin Roberts (Skaneateles, NY/Skaneateles)#, seven seat, #Reba Conway (Grand Island/Buffalo Academy of the Sacred Heart)#, six seat, #Sabine Loebner (Leisning, Germany/Lessing-Gymnasium Doebeln)#, five seat, #Devan Musa (Ithaca, NY/Ithaca)#, four seat, #Morgan Mowins (Fayetteville, NY/Fayetteville-Manlius )#, three seat, #Kelsey Rainie (Concord, NH/Concord)#, two seat, #Nicole Conway (Canandaigua, NY/Canandaigua Academy)#, and bow seat, Anne Wapshare (Blasdell, NY/Immaculata Academy).

The varsity A boat finished in a time of 20:48.679 two seconds off of Wesleyan University. In the “Ted Briggs,” senior coxswain #Eileen Kobal (Erie, PA/Fairview) took command of the young crew stroked by (Lagos, Nigeria)Allison Doster (Lafayette, NY/Lafayatte)#, followed by seven seat, #Shelby Mancuso (Torrington, CT/Torrington)#, six seat, #Sam Deakin (Clarence, NY/Clarence)#, five seat, #Brooke Van-Derpoel (Frederick, MD/Governor Thomas Johnson)#, four seat, #Sarah Crosby (Upton, MA/Nipmuc Regional)#, three seat, #Alex Kilgore (Lancaster, NY/Lancaster)#, two seat, #Katie Bonfiglio (Bedford, NH/Bedford)#, and bow seat, #Sarah Hadley (Monument, CO/Lewis Palmer)#. The varsity B boat finished in a time of 21:34.716.

Head Coach, Jim Bodenstedt was pleased with the women's performance.

“I think this is a very solid start for the women," said Bodenstedt. "They looked very good racing down the course at a rate of 26/28 strokes per minute. Given the fact that we have only been on the water for a few weeks now and, the harsh reality of so many 8:00 a.m. classes to contend with, we are really emphasizing quality strokes and efficient strokes. I feel confident these two crews will pick up more speed in the weeks to come.”

This week the Tiger Oarswomen will be preparing for the Hobart William Smith Invitational Saturday, October 8.