University at Buffalo
Oak Ridge Race
Rowing Opens Spring Season at Oak Ridge Cardinal Invite
3/17/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Rowing
OAK RIDGE, TN – The University at Buffalo rowing team kicked off its spring season in Tennessee at the Oak Ridge Cardinal Invite over the weekend. It was two-day event hosted by the University of Louisville.
"This was easily the best way for us to start the season," head coach Rudy Wieler said. "Our top three crews got three races against a very good field."
Every race over the weekend was 2,000 meters.
On Sunday, the Bulls raced against Dayton and Jacksonville and had a very strong showing. The Bulls won all but one race, some by large margins, and the one race they finished second to Dayton (second varsity eight) by just a tenth of a second, but still had their best time of the weekend.
The women's novice eight boat of Emily Niemel, Sara Fox, Alyssa Gabel, Melissa Ward, Jess Levy, Alexa Shoick, Nicole Cielscielski, Stephanie Iannachino and Jordyn Phillips kicked things off by defeating Tennessee and Dayton. The Bulls finished with a time of 7:16.90, beating the second-place Volunteers by nearly four seconds.
The varsity four crew of Kara Buchheit, Kylie Lewis, Rachel Cuthbert, Veronika Kwinicki and Bethany Cross easily won their race in a time of 7:53.50, defeating second-place Jacksonville by nearly a minute.
The varsity eight boat of Aly Scheehan, Jackie Postulka, Shannon David, Rosa Kemp, Heide MacMahon, Deb Garth, Hannah Miller-Selzer, Sydney Gilchrist and Brittany Ronald won its race with a time of 6:42.30. The Bulls beat Dayton by nearly five seconds and Jacksonville by over 28 seconds.
The second varsity eight boat of Emily Glasgow, Sarah Gallagher, Fran Strange, Kate Koscielniak, Danielle Carlino, Haley Franco, Justine Bottorff, Brittany Davidson and Liz Murphy finished just .14 seconds beyond winner Dayton. The lightweight eight boat of Kate Evely, Maggie Lawn, Megan Klyczek, Julia Hahn, Cornelia Willis, Katie Coffin, Jean Kang, Haley Bryk and Jessica Ashbaugh finished third in the race, just six seconds back.
On Saturday, the Bulls were very busy as they participated in 12 different races. Nearly every race consisted of three boats. The majority of the races were against Minnesota of the Big 10 and Kansas of the Big 12.
"We never raced against Minnesota," Wieler said. "They are a very good program. They are bigger and have a bit more speed. We were stronger than Kansas."
The day began with the women's novice eight race. The Bulls finished second, four seconds behind Kansas and three seconds ahead of Tennessee.
Next were the second varsity fours and the Bulls finished second, six seconds behind Minnesota and four seconds ahead of Kansas.
The second varsity eight finished second behind Minnesota and ahead of Kansas.
Next was the varsity four and they finished second as well, finishing behind Minnesota and ahead of Kansas. What was more impressive about this result is that the Bulls raced their lightweight four boat in this event. The lightweight four was made up of Kate Evely, Maggie Lawn, Cornelia Willis, Julia Hahn and Katie Coffin.
Like the varsity four, the varsity eight also finished second, behind Minnesota and ahead of Kansas.
In the afternoon session, the Bulls squared off against a very good Duke crew.
"Duke blitzed us," Wieler said. "They were just faster than us."
UB's novice eight boat finished just three seconds behind Duke and nearly 19 seconds ahead of Louisville.
Buffalo's varsity four and varsity eight boats also finished second to Duke.
For full results of the weekend's races please visit www.row2k.com.
