June 21, 2007

Fairfield, CT - 2006-2007 marked Sacred Heart's most competitive year to date in rowing. The typically strong novice crew amassed medals throughout the season, while the varsity crew moved generally higher in the standings than in previous years. Following are re-caps of regattas not covered in feature stories:

Head of the Charles -Sacred Heart's first foray to Boston proved a fine addition to the schedule, with the 1st varsity eight happy to have beaten several boats. Union College, Johns Hopkins, Rensselaer, Simmons, Northwestern U. and Manhattan fell to the Pioneers in that order to place 52-57 in the event. American U. edged out Sacred Heart by about 4 seconds with a time of 19:36; Brock University won the event in 17:22, followed by Brown and Princeton.

Dowling Alumni Cup - Dominant again were the Novice 4+, winning their event convincingly by more than six seconds over SUNY Maritime on the 1500m course. Stony Brook, Fairfield, Dowling and Manhattan followed up. Hofstra, the only other women's crew at the regatta, didn't field a boat. Sacred Heart's varsity four rowed to third behind Dowling and Fairfield ahead of Stony Brook; the JV four followed Manhattan, SUNY Maritime, Fairfield and Dowling; the pair fell behind Manhattan and Dowling; the novice eight beat a Hofstra boat by many lengths but lost to Manhattan, another Hofstra boat, Stony Brook and Fairfield; and the varsity light four lost to Fairfield but beat Manhattan. Two Sacred Heat alumni fours raced the 550m alumni sprint but couldn't keep up with the Dowling women.

Grimaldi Cup/Fall Metropolitan Championship - SHU's novice four rowed the 2000m course some 45 seconds faster than second-place finisher Iona to win gold in the seven-boat event. Fordham, who won every other women's event, fell to the Pioneer four in third place, followed by Sarah Law "A," NYU, Manhattan and Sarah Law "B." Fordham and Iona took first and second respectively in both the JV four and light four events, followed by Sacred Heart in third. Manhattan's light four followed the Pioneers. Fourth place finishes by both the varsity four and varsity eight helped put Sacred Heart fifth in team points overall--as the only competitors of the eight schools attending without a men's team.

Bill Braxton Memorial Regatta - SHU's V8+ rowed the 1500m course in 5:19 ahead of U. Scranton in a five-boat race. Temple won in 4:58, followed by Penn State and American. The Pioneer JV8+ placed second in their race, losing to Loyola but beating Loyola's second boat and Penn State. In the open fours event, Sacred Heart placed fourth of five and third of four.

Spring Training - Camp Bob Cooper - The crew flew into South Carolina's 70-degree weather in early March for a week of rowing on Lake Merritt to prepare for spring racing. Up to six hours a day of work in the boats solidified crews and gave the Pioneers a three-week jump in time on the water.

Murphy Cup - Sacred Heart fielded two varsity fours, a novice eight, a varsity eight and a light four. The sophomore four fell slightly behind the fleet in a 6-boat race won by Navy Women; the senior four rowed well ahead of Stony Brook and Susquehanna but was edged by Loyola, New York and Bucknell. The Pioneer novice eight rowed to fifth behind Pittsburgh, Lafayette, Loyola and Delaware but held Philadelphia. SHU's varsity eight held four lengths on Loyola but fell the same distance behind the winning St. Josephs Women. Fordham, Temple and Drexel also edged the Pioneers. The light four finished two lengths behind Villanova and the rest of the fleet in a six-boat race won by Pittsburgh. High hopes for the Pioneer novice four were dashed when the race schedule was tightened. Crewmembers in the light four were too hot on the water to make the start of the novice race.

Manhattan College Invitational Regatta - The now famous Sacred Heart novice four won their heat and their final to take home gold from Iona, SUNY Maritime, Fordham, Manhattan and Sarah Lawrence. Two Pioneer varsity fours qualified for finals--taking lanes from CW Post, Hofstra and Fordham--where they placed third and fourth to Fordham's first boat and Iona. The bow four of Sacred Heart's varsity eight jumped into the JV4+ event without having practiced and in SHU's brand new four, Lighthearted, which had never been rowed. Lilah Rossi stroked for the first time in a race. Kristina Dolan, Emily Keogler and Ann Marie Vecchiollo followed with Melissa Piper coxing, and the scratch crew won the event to take gold from Iona and Manhattan. The Pioneer light four lost to Iona but beat Manhattan; the varsity eight followed two Fordham boats and Iona but held Manhattan; and the Pioneer novice eight took silver in a five-boat race won by Fordham. Hofstra, Manhattan and Sarah Lawrence followed up in that order.

Knecht Cup - One of two Pioneer pairs qualified for the final where it defeated Lesley but lost to two NYU boats, Tulsa and Lehigh. SHU's novice four qualified for the Petite Final--with a second place finish to Georgetown in one of seven heats and 38 boats--finishing eleventh overall. 25 crews vied for berths in the varsity fours finals in five heats of five. The Pioneer fourth place finish ahead of Lehigh in a heat with URI, Buffalo and Dayton failed to advance Sacred Heart. In a second varsity four straight final of six boats, the Pioneers fell a deck behind Villanova and a length or two behind BC and Fairfield. Dowling was close on Sacred Heart and Delaware a bit back. The Pioneer varsity eight recorded the slowest course time of 29 boats in five heats and thus failed to advance. The Pioneer novice eight ranked 25th of 27 boats by time--ahead of Dayton and Robert Morris.

Metropolitan Intercollegiate RA Spring Championship - After earning a place in the finals behind Fairfield and Fordham with the third best time of eleven boats, the Pioneer novice four was dashed when the event was cancelled for lack of water as the tide ebbed. A SHU JV 4+ rowed the second best time of seven boats in two heats but no final was held. Pioneer varsity fours rowed to first and second in two of three heats, but no final was held. Two Sacred Heart pairs each rowed to third in two heats, to be excluded from the three-boat final in that event. A fourth-place finish in the varsity eights race for the Pioneers left them out of the finals, and a second-place finish behind Iona in the light four concluded racing for Sacred Heart.

Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Crew Championships - Pioneer seniors finished their collegiate rowing in Virginia May 6. Junior Melissa Allen coxed seniors Alycia Noeth, Laurie Ladouceur, Jessica McCarthy and Caroline Picknally to finish 2 and 3 seconds respectively over the next two boats and win the Petite Final in the varsity four. SHU Novice four Kristen Comeau, MaryBeth Reusche, Melissa Lott, Kerry Nolan and cox Julia Mancuso were squeezed in the heat one second out of the Grand Final by George Mason, so went on to win their Petite Final as well. Sacred Heart pair Caitlin Rousseau and Mel Allen rowed second to Rutgers after Susquehanna capsized and was unable to start in what would have been a three-boat race. The Pioneer JV8 fell behind the fleet in a straight final with George Mason, Mary Washington and Loyola.

Dad Vail Regatta - Varsity four Amy Dion, Ivanna Williams, Katie Schlosser, Jillian Crisci and cox Mallory Berko rowed to fourth in their heat ahead of Catholic and Albany and didn't advance. Rousseau and Allen rowed the pair to fifth and didn't advance. The novice four advanced from their heat with a second-place to Rollins ahead of LaSalle, Johns Hopkins and American. The race marked the first time in Pioneer history a crew would advance to Saturday's semi-final racing. Purdue, Lafayette, William & Mary and UMass held the Pioneer crew in the semi-final but UConn could not. Sacred Heart finished 15 seconds over UConn for fifth, 22 seconds behind the winner.

Coach Turner, Coach Fischetti and the crew wish to thank seniors Caroline Picknally, Jessica McCarthy, Laurie Ladouceur and Alycia Noeth for their years of dedicated service to the crew. Team Captains Picknally and McCarthy relinquished the helm to juniors Melissa Allen and Caitlin Rousseau, and the crew headed home for summer.