June 15, 2005

FAIRFIELD, CT - The spring rowing season ended a few weeks ago, but Sacred Heart University head coach John Turner put his thoughts together to recall the action over the last few months. Below is his recollection of the year and the progress of his young program.

Spring Training Pioneer rowers spent a productive week practicing at Camp Bob Cooper in South Carolina during spring break. While crews averaged six hours daily on the water, specific boats suffered when Casey tore a tendon in her foot the first day; Jenn developed tendonitis in her wrist a few days in; and Desiree sprained her thumb halfway through the week.

Racing on the last day proved fruitful as pioneer crews beat many Penn State boats but fell to Pittsburgh generally. Highlights of the trip included "prison bus" transportation, Gator Burgers at Wayne's, "monsoon" rowing and Charleston's charms.

Sacred Heart's invitational "Spring Starts Regatta" was cancelled due to flooding, wind and rain on April 2nd. Fairfield's invitational was cancelled for the same reasons the following day. Bad weather made for a tough spring in New England generally, with many rowers and coaches lamenting the shortened schedule.

With seeding deadlines approaching for NERC and no results to show, Sacred Heart sent two boats to Worcester on April 9th when an inquiry to Clark University indicated open lanes in two events (V8+ & 2V8+). Clark, Fairfield, Brandeis and Sacred Heart raced in fine conditions and SHU's boats finished respectably. The 2ndV8+ beat Clark by almost 10 seconds but lost to Fairfield by about 30. The V8+ finished just over a second behind Brandeis but 10 seconds behind Fairfield and Clark.

Knecht Cup This year--four years after entering this regatta for the first time with one boat in the "club 4" event--SHU fielded seven boats: 5 eights (L8+, N8+. 2N8+, V8+, 2V8+), a four (V4+) and a pair (V2-).

Pioneer Rowing's growth has yet to show a real advantage on the racecourse at this very competitive regatta, but SHU boats fared better than in past past, finishing in the mix with powerhouses like Kansas, UMass, Temple and Fordham.

The 2- (Liz Cameron, Stacey Lyons) went off early in the day and beat Hofstra by 11 seconds, but their third place finish to Villanova and UMass didn't qualify them for finals. The 2N8+ rowed some 13 seconds faster than Villanova but couldn't hold with Army, St.Joseph's, UMass, Fordham and Radcliffe.

In other events, Sacred Heart trailed in the heats.

Metropolitan Intercollegiate Rowing Championships

Pioneers' strong showing at this regatta relieved the crew after a fractured start to the season. A whopping total of eight Sacred Heart boats raced well among the thirteen competing schools, earning fifth place in overall points without a men's team.

With two novice fours, two varsity fours, a novice eight, a varsity eight, a lightweight four and a pair racing in all women's events, the day was a flurry of carefully orchestrated teamwork that went off without a hitch.

Fourth-place finishes in the novice fours heats eliminated the two Pioneer boats early in the day, but 2nd and 3rd place finishes by the varsity fours moved one boat to the finals. After eliminating six boats in the heats, Sacred Heart went on to finish third in the final, ultimately beating 9 boats overall.

In a straight four-boat final, the V8+ lost to Stony Brook, Iona and Binghamton in that order.

In a straight six-boat final, Sacred Heart's novice eight won the gold by more than 12 seconds over second-place Geneseo and more than a minute in front of last place finisher Stony Brook. Sacred Heart stroke Brittany Turner held 32 spm through the body of the race while 7-seat Ivanna Williams stayed with her, leading Caitlin Rousseau, Jessica McCarthy, Jennifer Agatep, Stephanie Sullivan, Gina Baldi, and Ashley Nissen down the course ahead of the fleet by open water. Cox Ali Daly described the race as "a supreme execution of everything we've practiced." High hopes for the lightweight 4+ were dashed when Iona beat Sacred Heart by 30 seconds.

The 2- jumped out to a strong 2nd place position 500m into their straight 5-boat final, but was fouled at the 1000m mark and Maritime got past them. Maritime and Sacred Heart shared silver in the event, finishing behind Hofstra.

The Daly's (Ali's parents) hosted the crew and parents for dinner afterward, where highlight videos, gift-giving and voting-in of next years co-captains brought home the approaching end of the season. Six Pioneer seniors lamented their collegiate rowing careers winding down, as did their crewmates and coaches.

New England Rowing Championships Sacred Heart entered three boats in this regatta (V8+, 2V8+, N8+), but the V8+ event was over-subscribed, squeezing out Sacred Heart.

The 2V8+ got eliminated early, but the N8+ moved on to the Petite Final after finishing in front of Bowdoin and Middlebury in one of three 6-boat heats.

Holy Cross, Trinity and Bates finished ahead of the Pioneer boat in the Petite Final, but Amherst and USCGA trailed.

The finish was the best yet for Sacred Heart in the Championships. Pioneers thank Carl and Kathy Cameron (Liz's parents) for hosting all 28 crewmembers at their home the night before with dinner, accommodations and breakfast.

Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Crew Championships This addition to the spring schedule proved fruitful when a foray to Virginia netted two silvers for Pioneer crews. Primarily an investigative trip to see if the regatta were an appropriate venue for Sacred Heart, only two boats (V4+, 2-) traveled south.

Both boats rowed in straight 3-boat finals, earning second-place finishes. The V4+ (Johnston, Lyth, Ladouceur, Nash, with cox Capozzoli) rowed ahead of Maryland but behind Loyola; the pair (Cameron, Lyons) beat SUNY Maritime but lost to Carnegie Melon.

Dad Vail Regatta With six seniors celebrating Commencement and four other rowers unable to attend, Sacred Heart left for Philadelphia with a scant 18, just enough crewmembers to field two eights.

The novice 8+ event was over-subscribed, so the Pioneers put out two composite boats with novice and varsity rowers in the 2V8+ and V8+ categories. Both boats had excellent rows but failed to advance to finals.

Pioneer Rowing thanks seniors Beth Buco, Liz Cameron, Ali Daly, Lauren Humphrey, Sarah Kolb and Stacey Lyons for their years of heart, diligence, commitment and spirit. We wish them well in all they do, and hope to see them pulling for Sacred Heart in alumni boats for years to come.