George Washington University Athletics
George Washington University
George Mason/Mary Washington
Colonials Drop Season Opener at George Mason
3/25/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Rowing
March 25, 2009
OCCOQUAN, VA - George Washington Women's Rowing opened their spring racing season on March 22, 2009 against George Mason and Mary Washington on the Occoquan Reservoir. The Colonials won the novice four event but dropped their other two races to the Patriots.
The morning started with the novice eight race, which proved to be the closest race of the day. The GW crew of Ayla Richards, Morgen Ellis, Courtney Pendray, Mackenzie Hovermale, Sara Levi, Estee Gabel, Sarah Thompson, Anne Kuznicki, and Sarah Hill had a great start and traded the lead until the last 200 meters. Mason crossed the line with a time of 7:42.2 with GW following right behind at 7:44.8.
GW's lone victory of the day came in the novice four race where the crew of Meghan Kearns, Julia Silva, Rachel Roth, Stephanie Wiseman and Maryann Grunseth pulled away from Mason early and continued to build their lead throughout the race. The Colonials won by 18 seconds finishing with a time of 8:55.7.
"This was the first sprint race for all of our novices so the weekend provided a great opportunity to learn and improve," said assistant coach Maria Bokulich. "Each race is a learning experience so I am hoping they can apply the lessons they learned today when we race Duke and UNC next weekend. Overall it was a great first effort from the novices."
In the varsity eight event, GW's crew of Katie Martin, Bess Austin, Rhonda Crittle, Stephanie DeFlora Lisa VanArsdale, Carrie Rollman, Allison Miedema, Bonnie Scott and Ellen Van Cleave battled back and forth down the course with Mason, but came out on the losing end. GW finished 4 seconds behind Mason with a time of 7:16.0 while finishing ahead of Mary Washington.
"We would have liked to open the season with a win, but I think everyone rowed really well," said Head Coach Robert McCracken. "We were just coming off a hard week of training during spring break and I think the varsity did a good keeping up with a strong Mason crew. Our hope is that we can make a lot of progress this week as we prepare for our upcoming races."
GW returns to competition this weekend with a double dual on the Potomac River against Duke and the University of North Carolina. Races begin at 8:00 am and conclude by 2:30 pm.
Players Mentioned
