WOMEN'S CREW CRACKS THE POLLS

(May 9, 2002)-The St. Lawrence University women's eight made their first appearance in the US Rowing/Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association NCAA Women's Division III Varsity Eights Poll at 20th in just their third season as a varsity sport.

The Saints women's eight has come on strong in the second half of the spring season taking the Gilman Plate two weeks ago before finishing third in the Petite Final of the New York State Rowing Championships this past weekend. At the state championship, the team finished ahead of Vassar and Skidmore both of whom were ranked in the top-20 at the time and had beat the Saints several times in the early season. Vassar is now ranked 16th.

Williams College garnered all eight first place votes to earn the top ranking in the nation. New York State is well represented in the poll with Ithaca ranked second, William Smith fourth, Rochester Institute of Technology eighth, Vassar 16th, St. Lawrence 20th while Skidmore and Union both received votes.

CREW TEAMS IMPRESS AT STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS;

MEN'S FOUR THIRD

May 6, 2002-The St. Lawrence University men's four finished third in the Grand Final at the New York State Collegiate Rowing Championships on Sunday while the women's eight was third in the Petite Final. The U.S. Merchant Marine Academy won the men's four while Ithaca won the Grand Final of the women's eight.

The men's four, made up of bow Dustin Brecher, two-seat Ben Franco, three-seat Chris Taft, stroke Jonathon King and coxswain Amanda McKay, rowed through Marist College in the last 20 strokes of their heat to earn a spot in the finals with a time of 7:06.3. Manhattan won the heat in 7:05.4 with Marist just behind the Saints in third at 7:06.9. In the Grand Final, St. Lawrence took third in state with a time of 7:04.4. The USMMA won the event in 6:56.6 with Dowling in second at 7:02.8.

In the women's eight, St. Lawrence finished third in Heat Three in 7:17.6, one spot from qualifying for the Grand Final in their event. They advanced to the Petite Final, where they took third, chopping four seconds from their heat time to finish in 7:13.5. Fordham won the Petite Final in 7:05.6 with Marist in second at 7:09.1. The Saints avenged losses to Vassar and Skidmore with the finish. Both of those schools crew were ranked in the top-20 and had defeated the Saints in races throughout the earlier part of the season. The St. Lawrence boat was made up of bow Ashley Arnista, two-seat Anna Larson, three-seat Meghan Musnicki, four-seat Fredyne Yust, five-seat Amy Bartoszewicz, six-seat Laura Kirby, seven-seat Jenn Faller, stroke Sara Rademacher and coxswain Joy Ridley. Ithaca won the women's eight Grand Final in 6:53.5, beating William Smith by two-tenths of a second.

WOMEN'S EIGHT WINS GILMAN PLATE;

MEN'S FOUR TAKES GILMAN BOWL

The St. Lawrence University women's eight won their third race of the season, taking the Gilman Plate, while the men's four won their fifth race in a row, claiming the Gilman Bowl. The men's and women's novice fours also had impressive races with both finishing second in their respective events.

The Saints women's varsity eight won their third race of the season, crossing the finish line on the Mohawk River five seconds ahead of Hamilton and seven seconds in front of host Union to lay claim to the Gilman Plate. The Saints rowed the 2000-meter course in 6:56. St. Lawrence bested Rensselaer twice on the St. Lawrence River near Waddington earlier this year.

The men's varsity four won their fifth consecutive race dating backt to their win at the Head of the Fish in the fall. The beat second-place Union by 12 seconds, finishing in 7:09 and take the Gilman Bowl.

The women's novice four posted thier best result of the season, taking second in their race while host Union took the win. The men's novice four was second as well, finishing in 7:20, ten seconds behind the winning crew from Hamilton.

St. Lawrence will row in the New York State Rowing Championships next weekend in Whitney Point, NY.

MEN'S CREW ON A ROLL

April 22, 2002-The St. Lawrence University men's varsity four crew team won their fourth consecutive race, defeating Vassar, Union, Skidmore and Rensselaer on Fish Creek in Saratoga Springs, NY. The women's varsity eight finished third.

The men's four, made up of bow Chris Taft, two-seat Ben Franco, three-seat Doug Smith, stroke Jonathan King and coxswain Amanda McKay, have now won four of the seven events that they have participated in in the 2001-2002 season. They finished the 2000-meter course on Fish Creek in 6:59.33, beating second place Vassar by just under four seconds. Union finished third, Rensselaer was fourth and Skidmore took fifth.

In the women's varsity eight, the St. Lawrence women took third in a controversial race, finishing in 7:16.00. Skidmore protested the race as the Union boat twice collided with the Thoroughbreds. The race official ruled that the race could not be run and declared a tie for first between Vassar and Skidmore. Union received two 10-second penalties and finished fifth. Rensselaer was fourth.

The Saints will race in the Gillman Cup hosted by Union College with Hamilton also participating on Saturday, April 27.

CREW CONTINUES WINNING WAYS

(April 16, 2002)-The St. Lawrence University men's varsity four crew won their third consecutive race at the Knecht Cup in Camden, N.J., over the weekend. The team has a three-race win streak dating back to last fall's Head of the Fish in Saratoga. The women's varsity eight took third place despite some rather big trouble at the start of their final.

The men's four of bow Dustin Brecher, second-seat Ben Franco, third-seat Chris Taft, stroke Jonathan King and coxswain Amanda McKay had the fastest time of the two qualifying heats, racing the 2000-meter course at Cooper River in 7:02.6, 4.5 seconds faster than second-place Vassar. The team continued the fast pace in the finals, holding off a hard-charging crew from Carnegie Mellon by three-tenths of a second. The Saint crew finished in 7:04.8 while the Tartan boat had a time of 7:05.1.

It is the second consecutive race that this crew has won together this spring, and the third race that the Saint men's four has won, dating back to last fall's win at the Head of the Fish. The same group won the first home race in program history against Rensselaer last weekend, beating two Red Hawks crew by ten seconds and 1:19.

In the women's eight, the St. Lawrence boat had no problems in their qualifying heat, finishing with the second fastest time of the morning at 7:11.4, just 1.2 seconds behind Vassar. In the finals, however, a hard wind caused a false start on the Saint boat, blowing them into another lane and bringing them to a dead stop just seconds into the race. The team kept their composure and worked their way back into the race, passing three boats to finish third with a time of 7:25.4.

In three races this spring, the women's eight has two-first place finishes and a third.

The Saints next competition is this weekend as they travel to the Skidmore Invitational on Saturday, April 20.

SAINTS TAKE FOUR RACES IN
FIRST EVER HOME EVENT

April 6, 2002--Despite the frigid temperatures and steady wind, excitement and nervousness was the feeling in the air at Waddington beach as the St. Lawrence University crew team hosted their first race in the program's three-year history, welcoming Rensselaer to the St. Lawrence River. The Saints used that excitement to take wins in the men's and women's eights and men's four.

The sun was shining throughout the day, but a cold wind blowing across the Canadian border kept the temperatures down throughout the morning. However, a small contingent of parents, friends and faculty and staff members cheered on the Saints throughout the day, racing from the start line in downtown Waddington to the finish line just north of the Waddington beach.

After launching their boats shortly after 11:00 a.m., the Saints and RPI rowed nearly two miles downstream to the course start. The first race started at approximately 11:30 as the Saint men's four took a two-boat length win over RPI on the 1.2 mile course, powering upstream to the finish in a time of 9:14, winning by ten seconds. In third was Rensselaer's B boat, finishing in 10:33.

The women's eight was the second race and the Saints led the entire length of the course as the Rensselaer two seat struggled to maintain her pace with a broken oar. St. Lawrence crossed the line in 9:55, well ahead of the RPI boat at 10:15.

After docking and borrowing an oar from St. Lawrence, both RPI and the Saint women eights took to the river again. This race proved to be closer, with the St. Lawrence boat edging RPI by three-quarters of a length. The Saints improved their first race time to 9:42 while Rensselaer crossed the line in 9:47.

The men's eight wrapped up the day of racing as a strong start by St. Lawrence proved to be the difference as they took a 31-second win, crossing the finish in 8:32, and wrapping up a four-race sweep on the day for the Saints.

CREW ENDS FALL SEASON ON HIGH NOTE

Nov. 28-The St. Lawrence University crew team won the men's novice four at the Head of the Fish in the last race of the season to close out a solid fall in their third season as a varsity sport. The Saints also boasted top-10 finishes in the women's open four, placing ninth, and the women's novice eight with one boat tying for eighth and another boat crossing the line in 15th as St. Lawrence had a strong showing with the largest contingent of athletes they have ever taken to a regatta with 40.

The win in the men's novice four put a punctuation mark on a solid fall season and should give the team some momentum as they prepare for the spring season. The Saints crew of Benjamin Franco, Benjamin Frisch, Adam Christensen, Jason Wagner and coxswain Amanda McKay dominated the rest of the field, finishing 23 seconds ahead of second place Bowdoin.

The women's open eight tied for tenth and was just four seconds from a sixth-place finish. Head coach Nick Hughes was happy with his women's novice eight crews that placed eighth and 15th. "They raced competitively and promise a depth of talent that will ensure an intense winter training and good speed in the spring," commented Hughes.

The Saints had solid showings at the Head of the Charles and the Stonehurst Invitational earlier in the season. The men's four finished as the top Division III boat in the men's heavyweight division and the women's heavyweight eights placed 20th overall at the Stonehurst races. At the Head of the Charles, the men's four placed 29th out of a field of 70 boats made up of crews from throughout the world. The women were 21st despite two time violations.

SAINTS ENJOY SOLID RESULTS AT

HEAD OF THE CHARLES

(October 22)-- The Saints crew teams finished well at the Head of the Charles this past weekend in Boston, Mass. The women's four placed 21st overall after receiving time violations for missing two buoys near the Cambridge boat house before the Elliot Street Bridge.

Head Coach Nick Hughes noted, "Coxswain Joy Ridley called a great technical race and steered a good line despite the violations on the most challenging part of the course. Overall, the women had a great row."

In the men's four, the Saints rowed to a 29th place finish out of a field of 70 boats. "The men had a strong settle, rowing the body of the piece at a strong 28, driving hard with good ratio. Coxswain Amanda McKay made full use of her experience in this, her third Head of the Charles," said Hughes.

"Generally, I'm very pleased with our showing this past weekend," commented Hughes. "We've been training in eights in preparation for the spring, trying to develop a number of our athletic novices, so I was pleased with how well our men and women made the adjustment to rowing with new lineups in more technically demanding boats."

The Head of the Charles is the biggest race of the fall season for college and club rowing teams, drawing teams from all over the world to this challenging, 3-mile course that winds through downtown Boston on the Charles River. Coxswains must deal with five bridges on the course and numerous twists on the traditional course.