WEST WINDSOR N.J. – The Canisius Rowing program got its first taste of spring competition on Saturday, as the squad took part in the prestigious Knecht Cup at Mercer Lake, in West Windsor, N.J.
"It was a great day for racing here -- cold, windy, and rainy,” head coach Joel Furtek said. “The speed at this event, as always, was top notch, and we found ourselves just outside of the mix. It's a brutal place for the first race of the season, and we learned some hard lessons.”
The varsity four kicked things off for Canisius and the team of Geovaira Hernandez, Julianna Sciandra, Liz DelBarba, Erin Grim and Kaitlyn Taylor, finished with a time of 8:33.38, finishing fifth in heat two.
Next was the second varsity four as the team of Jenni Vinci, Tiffany Velado, Melissa Frank, Alexandra Glick and Grace Horner competed in heat four and finished with a time of 9:12.98.
"Our fours showed that we still have work to do on the depth of our speed,” Furtek said. “We were able to see some issues that we can resolve in the coming week.”
In the squad's second varsity eight race, the Blue and Gold competed hard but mistakes plagued the boat as the lineup of Mackenzie App, Chanel Davis, Amber Giambone, Michelle Turner, Bridget Lillis, Audrey Rieman, Kira Voyer, Patricia Beaulieu and Jordan Bamrick finished with a time of 7:59.12.
"In the second varsity eight, we let the race slip away from us and found ourselves too far back to close the gap and qualify,” Furtek said. “It's not a mistake that our racers will make again.”
The Griffs varsity eight had the best morning of the four boats but still came up short of advancing on in the regatta. The team of Molly Murphy, Shannon Pritzker, Corrine Kickel, Madeline Kurka, Kathryn Hobika, Brooke Stanley, Nora Kennon, Sydney Bichsel, and Hannah Blum completed the race with a time of 7:34.49.
"In the varsity eight, we came up less than half a second short of going through to the next round,” Furtek said. “We'd have finished second in the next two heats, but our fate was in our own hands and we missed. That's the nature of our sport, hours, weeks, and months of training for the tightest of margins. Kudos to our neighbors at University at Buffalo for making it through by that half a second, and we wish them the best in the Semis.”
While none of the Canisius boats advanced on, the results showed some things to be pleased about, as weeks and months of preparation appeared have paid immediate dividends.
"Overall, we fell short of our team goal of advancing into the semis, but our times were the top in the MAAC, besting Jacksonville and Marist,” Furtek said. “Outside the conference, we found ourselves in a good mix, as our varsity eight was just behind, and second varsity eight ahead of, Buffalo. Also our varsity eight was within seconds of Alabama, North Carolina, and Southern Methodist University, among others. We have much work left to do and much room for growth. We head back to Buffalo disappointed, but driven to take the next step on the road to the MAACs, back here in New Jersey in just five weeks."
Canisius next competes in a scrimmage with Bucknell, on April 16, in Lewisburg, Pa. The exhibition race will give the Griffs a chance to work with a team that was in the NCAA race last season and provide another stiff test.
