Nov. 15, 2007

FAIRFIELD, CT - Women¹s rowing had a strong finish to the fall season this year with a race at the Grimaldi Cup on Saturday and the Bill Braxton Regatta on Sunday.

Both novice and varsity crews withstood cold winds and harsh temperatures to race hard this weekend. Improvement was evident among the novice crew as the novice eight won two gold medals over the weekend, beating Fairfield, Fordham, and Iona on Saturday and Philadelphia, Penn State, and Loyola on Sunday. The novice boat was coxed by freshman Rebecca Caimano (Wrightstown, PA), who motivated her crew over the finish line seconds before the other crews.

The varsity crew, SHU¹s strongest to date, found themselves fighting the pack to cross the finish line ahead of tough competition. Senior and captain Caitlin Rousseau (Amityville, NY) stroked juniors Mary Beth Reusche (Media, PA), Katie Schlosser (Little Neck, NY), and Lilah Rossi (Malden, MA) in a varsity four coxed by junior Mallory Berko (Newtown, CT), that crossed the finish line third in a close race against the competition on Saturday.

SHU's second varsity four, coxed by senior and captain Melissa Allen (Bernardston, MA), with sophomores Kristin Comeau (Shrewsbury, MA) and Morgan Frawley (Lyme, NH), and juniors Amy Dion (Marion, MA) and Jillian Crisci (Gardiner, NY) went head to head with powerful Fordham University, earning a close second place and finishing boat lengths ahead of two Hofstra boats, Fairfield and Iona.

Both varsity eights also fought hard this weekend, rowing stroke-for stroke with the competition, finishing strong in their respective events.