On Saturday, April 28, both the men’s and women’s rowing teams headed to Ithaca, NY, to compete against the best of their fellow Central New York competitors.

The women faced Ithaca, Hamilton and Marist in five races. Saturday morning, the Varsity 8+ team faced Marist with sophomore Lucy Bonin at the cox, and a crew featuring sophomore Taylor Wright (8), sophomore Molly Frauenheim (7), senior captain Katie Kelleher (6), first-year Katya Yepifanova (5), junior Michelle Tebolt (4), first-year Jill Burke (3), senior captain Carrie Coote (2) and senior Maria Cesarini (1). They lost to the Red Foxes, who had posted a time of 6:52:01 winning time, coming in at 6:58:74. 

The afternoon race proved much closer for the Raiders as they faced the Hamilton Continentals. Coming in at 6:51.0, they skirted victory this time by merely two seconds. 

The Second Varsity 8+ team also faced Marist with first-year Emily Schwartz at the cox with a crew featuring junior Allie Cunningham (8), junior Abby Fleming (7), sophomore Claudia Tarrant (6), sophomore Mary Hurtgen (5), first-year Katherine Larsen (4), first-year Lisa Reimer (3), first-year Rikki Borkowski (2) and first-year Mikayla Fassler (1). Unfortunately, they were beaten by the Red Foxes’ time of 7:15.9, coming in at 7:35.4. 

The final women’s race, the Varsity 4+ was against the Red Foxes. With first-year Laura Macias at the cox, first-year Gabby Pacula (4), first-year Rayzel Rosner (3), first-year Carly Yang (2) and first-year Domenique Masi (1), the crew finished in 7:55.16. Marist claimed their third victory of the day over the Raiders’ 9:26.20 in this race. 

Though it was a tough weekend for the women, the men saw great success during the weekend races. They began their sweep of the day with their Varsity 8+ race against Marist in the morning. With junior Ben Halligan at the cox, and a crew featuring junior Matt Oakley (S), sophomore Alex Damjanovc (7), first-year Sam Gatsos (6), first-year Peter LeRoux (5), sophomore David McCarthy (4), first-year Ben Moffa (3), sophomore Luke Smith (2) and junior Peter Rex (1), they won by a two second margin, coming in at 5:50.17.

 The final race for the men, the Varsity 4+ was against the Ithaca Bombers. With first-year Tali Filstein at the cox, first-year Jackson Gilium (S), sophomore Andrew Pratt (3), first-year Wheeler Young (2) and sophomore Jack Foley (1) on the crew, they finished in 6:07.9. The Bombers came in with 7:08.34 on the clock.   

The women’s rowing team will head to the Patriot League tournament in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, on Friday, May 11, where it will have its final races of the season. The men’s team will be traveling to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, next Saturday to participate in the Dad Vail Regatta on May 11 and May 12.  

“We are glad to have [the Ithaca] race under our belts as we train for Dad Vails over the next two weeks,” assistant coach Amanda Dudley said.

As for the women’s team, with specific goals in mind, they do not plan to let this weekend’s losses impede their preparations for the Patriot League Tournament.

Contact Isabel Van Wie at ivanwie@colgate.edu.