Cape Cod, Mass. -- The ECAC congratulates Hobart Colleges Mens Freshman Eight, Worcester Polytechnic Institutes Womens Varsity Eight, and Syracuse Universitys Womens Varsity Eight, and recognizes these three outstanding crews as the ECAC Crews of the Week for the week ending April 12. The crews from Hobart, W.P.I. and Syracuse become the first crews to be so recognized this racing season; Hobarts and W.P.I.s crews share ECAC NIR Crew of the Week honors, while Syracuses Womens V8 earns the award for the strongest performance by an EAWRC crew.
Hobart Mens Freshmen Eight
Competing in near-perfect conditions on the Cayuga-Seneca Canal, Hobarts top freshmen eight boat notched a resounding victory this past weekend, outracing visiting R.I.T. by 18.64 seconds. Covering the course in 7:08.69, the group of Nick Hoagland, Ben Draper, Nate Kress, Paul Wasmund, Joe Jameson, David Drennan, Robert Reinheimer, Alex Caruthers, and Jared Desrochers earned its second consecutive victory; Hobarts freshmen defeated Ithaca by just four seconds a week earlier. Saturdays performance earned the group UCAA Boat of the Week honors.
Worcester Polytechnic Institute Womens Varsity Eight
W.P.I.s womens varsity eight captured the Barbara Donahue Cup by racing past crews from Williams College and Connecticut College, and crossing the finish-line with a time of 7:17.8 in moderate conditions on Lake Quinsigamond. The Barbara Donahue Cup is named for Mrs. James Donahue, widow of Mr. James Donahue who, prior to his death in December of 2003, was the most generous of benefactor of both W.P.I. Crew and the Worcester rowing community. The Cup has been held by Williams College since the races inception in 2002; W.P.I.s varsity eight, however, was committed to returning the Donahue Cup home to Worcester this spring. The crew of Meghan Collins 05, Erin Bryan 05, Jessica McAlear 04, Emily Pikor 05, Corinne Linderman 07, Elizabeth Marcks 07, Caitlin McKoy 06, Jennifer McLaughlin 06, and Stephanie Thomas 04 came off the starting line a bit slow, and their boat fell immediately to third. By the 500 meter mark the W.P.I. women had found a strong rhythm, though: they moved gradually through Connecticut College, and pulled even with the Williams crew. At 1000 meters W.P.I. had pulled 3 seats ahead of Williams, and the crew looked to maintain this strong pace into the second 1000 meters. The third 500 proved to be the true test. Williams made a strong push and had moved 3 seats into the lead by the 1500 meter mark. With 500 meters to go, the W.P.I. women demonstrated their commitment to bringing home the Donahue Cup by staging a comeback. Bringing up the stroke-rate, they pushed back through Williams to win the race by 2.3 seconds, return the Barbara Grant Donahue Cup to Worcester, and defeat Williams for the first time since Womens Crew became a Varsity sport at W.P.I. in 1999.
Syracuse University Womens Varsity Eight
The Syracuse womens varsity eight retained the Orange Challenge Cup by defeating Northeastern and Pennsylvania on Saturday, April 10. It was SUs third Cup victory in the last four years. Racing in sunny conditions on the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia, the crew of Marisa Begley (04), Kelly McGrorey (05), Shawna O'Brien (05), Shannon Mercurio (04), Catherine Henny (06), Anna Goodale (05), Michelle Garren (04), Juliet Bonczkowski (04), and Kim Garvey (05) won the 2,000-meter race with a time of 6:32.7 (Northeastern finished second with a time of 6:37.3 and Pennsylvania claimed third with a 6:38.4 finish). The three boats were staggered slightly at the start. Syracuse got off the line well and when they settled they were rowing at a rate of approximately 34 to 35 strokes per minute. At the 500-meter mark Syracuse led by about ¾ of length. Syracuse made a good move to increase its lead slightly, but at approximately the 800-meter mark, the other two crews trimmed the margin. SU hit some open water in the third 500 meters, though, and extended its advantage to about 3 or 4 seconds at the 1,100-meter mark. Syracuse rowed at a rate of 34.5 or 35 strokes per minute as it maintained its lead to the finish.