Canisius ended its 2016 fall campaign on Saturday, as the squad competed at the 52nd annual Head of the Charles regatta, in Cambridge, Mass. The Blue and Gold were forced to deal with a course hazard during the race but managed to finish 20th in the crowded field, and was the fastest MAAC school to finish.

“It was a hard and heartbreaking day of racing,” head coach Joel Furtek.” Our eight was running solidly in the top ten when two crews came to a complete stop under the famous Eliot Street Bridge directly in front of our crew. Coxswain Kaity Taylor did what she had to do and stopped her boat in the middle of the race. As all three crews restarted, we found ourselves on the outside of the long final turn and out of contention.”

The boat consisting of Alexandra Heinz, Brooke Stanley, Kira Voyer, Kathryn Hobika, Jessica Fabian, Patricia Beaulieu, Molly Murphy, Sydney Bichsel and Kaitlyn Taylor still managed to finish in the upper half of the field, with a time of 18:15.23.

"Fall head racing is unique in its risk of "misadventure" on the course and I'm sick that our day will be so hard to define,” Furtek said. “The two crews in front of us were penalized but that's no relief for us. We chose to race on this grand stage and we have to live with the result. As racers, that won't sit well with us”

"Looking to the bright side, despite the challenges, we finished first among our MAAC competition,” Furtek said.

The Griffs finished two spots above Marist in the standings, as the Red Foxes clocked in nearly 15 seconds behind the Blue and Gold. Iona was the only other conference competitor, as the boat came in 34th with a time of 20:05.84.

"It's safe to say that today's disappointment will stoke the fires as we head back on the water as a full team on Monday. We can now begin to look forward to the more orderly Spring racing season."