Canisius
Women's Rowing Opens Season at Home Against Canisius and D'Youville
10/4/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Rowing
AMHERST, NY – The University at Buffalo, The State University of New York women's rowing team opened the 2015-16 campaign against Canisius and D'Youville on Tonawanda Creek in Amherst on Sunday morning.
Being the first race of the season, the Bulls were working on their techniques. UB, which worked in the offseason developing powerful strokes, were charted at rowing 26 strokes per minute, while Canisius rowed 32 strokes per minute.
"It was an alright first race for us," head coach Sandy Calfo said. "We worked a lot on powerful strokes this year. We wanted to produce the right power for each stroke. We didn't get quite the results we wanted, but we got a lot of the movement we wanted in the boats and that's going to help us later in the season."
The Canisius A boat won the Varsity 8 race with a time of 18:38.8. The Buffalo A boat finished second with a time of 19:33.3. The boat consisted of Courtney Donovan, Colleen Patterson, Erica Tenteromano, Samantha Paige, Tracey Zajac, Erin O'Connell, Meghan O'Brien, Emily Sheetz and Clare Costello.
The Buffalo B boat of Madeline Sheffield, Juliana Gomez, Mackenzie Turpin, Elizabeth Shilling, Maddy Saporito, Jillian Michael Sophie Wisoff and Rylee James finished fourth with a time of 20:02.4.
In the Varsity 4 race, the Bulls had a dominant performance as the Buffalo A boat won the race with a time of 22:14.6. It was nearly 40 seconds ahead of UB's C boat which finished second. The A boat was made up of Marissa Scaduto, Samatha Paige, Mackenzie Turpin, Meghan O'Brien and Erin O'Connell.
The C boat consisted of Allyssa Cotton, Anna Sviripa, Sarah Brill and Ankita Kelkar. Buffalo's B boat of Melissa Stein, Juliana Gomez, Madeline Sheffield, Savannah Howland and Ellie Bortiatynski finished fourth with a time of 24:06.5.
Prior to Sunday's race the team held a new boat dedication ceremony. The new Hudson 4+ shell was named in honor of UB Assistant Athletic Director for Facilities and Capital Projects Nick Titus. A 2000 graduate of the University at Buffalo with a degree in communications, Titus has been a member of the UB athletic department staff since graduation. In his current role, he oversees all capital projects for the athletic department as well as facility and equipment maintenance.
"Nick has been instrumental in the growth and development of the women's rowing program here at UB in various ways," Calfo said. "Not only did he help lay the foundation of our boathouse, but he has continued to be an incredible supporter both on and off the water. Whether he's helping us put the dock in or making a call to get our launch fixed, Nick has always done what he could to keep this program on the rise. We are thrilled to have his name on this new boat and we look forward to winning many races in his name."
