The Canisius College rowing program posted impressive performances up and down the lineups on Saturday, as the squad competed in a regatta against Buffalo and D'Youville, held at Tonawanda Creek. Canisius won both the varsity eight and varsity four races against the rival Bulls.
“It was a perfect Fall day for racing,” head coach Joel Furtek said. “I'm so very proud of the speed and depth our women displayed today. In the varsity eights, Buffalo came out swinging and we answered with good early speed; then, our two Griffs' eights found themselves side by side for the body of the race. It was awesome to watch them push each other down the course — exactly as they do every day. The 1-2 finish overall was icing on the cake.”
In the opening race of the morning the Griffs varsity eights finished the race in both first and second place, respectively.
The first varsity eight, comprised of Patricia Beaulieu, Molly Murphy, Kathryn Hobika, Jessica Fabian, Brooke Stanley, Kira Voyer, Sydney Bichsel, Alexandra Heinz, and Kaitlyn Taylor posted a time of 18:08 to take top-honors. The second varsity eight finished next, as the boat of Shannon Pritzker, Bridget Lillis, Audrey Rieman, Tara Federow, Michelle Turner, Madeline Kurka, Mackenzie App, Melissa Frank and Grace Horner clocked in with a time of 18.42.
The Bulls finished third and fourth, respectively with the first varsity eight coming in with a time of 18:47, with the second varsity eight rounding out the four boats, with a time of 18:56.
Next was the varsity four race with the Griffs sending out four separate boats. Canisius once again took the top-two spots with the second varsity four, consisting of Voyer, Stanley, Heinz, Bichsel and Horner, placing first with a time of 20:41. The first varsity four of Fabian, Hobika, Murphy, Beaulieu and Tyler was close behind, clocking in at 20:42 for second place.
Buffalo's second varsity four placed third with a time of 20:51, with the Blue and Gold's third varsity four placing fourth, as Davis, Rieman, Lillis, Pritzker and Gianna Ortolani, finished with a time of 21:22.
The Griffs fourth varsity four of Alexandria Holt, Liz DelBarba, Vicaretti, Erin Grim and Misa Gamble placed seventh with a time of 22:03.
“In the fours, 11 of our women doubled up and went back out to lead the charge in the second round,” Furtek said. “It was a tightly packed field but our top two fours found their way to another 1-2 finish and the next Griffs across the line were in fourth with a scrappy four crossing the line in seventh ahead of the two D'Youville entries and just a couple lengths behind Buffalo's "A" four. Again, it was a gutsy performance and each of our boats pushed their teammates to more speed.
“It wasn't perfect execution, of course, and on Monday we'll work to address the errors, but for today and tomorrow, we will enjoy our well-earned exhaustion and set the stage for another great racing week,” Furtek said.
The Blue and Gold will next be in action on Saturday Oct. 1, as the program competes in the Hobart/Williams Smith Challenge on the Canal.
