Results

The William Smith College rowing team successfully defended its women's collegiate eights championship at the Head of the Genesee in Rochester, N.Y., on Saturday. The Heron varsity eight finished first in the 17-crew field which included three conference rivals and Division II Mercyhurst.
 
The Head of the Genesee combines a morning head race and a 1,500-meter sprint in the afternoon. The sprint time is tripled and added to morning time. The fastest combined time wins.
 
William Smith's varsity eight put together an impressive morning run, opening an 18.9 second lead over second place Hamilton. The Herons kept their foot on the gas in the afternoon sprint, crossing the line with an additional two second advantage over the Continentals. William Smith's cumulative weighted time of 33:54.52 was 24.39 seconds ahead of second place Hamilton and 36.95 seconds faster than Liberty League rival St. Lawrence, which finished third.
 
The Heron varsity eight was powered by Kim Goral, Libby Hughes, Katie Paige, Caroline DeWeirdt, Emily Andersen, Laura Cappio, Sarah Gordon, Alyssa Trebilcock, and Jess Steketee.
 
“We're delighted to have repeated as collegiate eight women's champions,” William Smith Head Coach Sandra Chu said. “The varsity eight was very aggressive in the morning and they held that aggressiveness in the afternoon. They didn't let their time cushion in the morning impact what they did in the afternoon.”
 
William Smith's second varsity eight of Susan Tuvell, Emma Dow, Morgan Burgess, Emily Shelden, Leila Peraro, Kristen Brayden, Aly Clark, Alanna Dugan, and Emma Tiedemann was second among 2V8s and seventh overall, besting the 1V8s from Mercyhurst, Union, Binghamton and Geneseo. The Heron third varsity eight was 13th overall and finished in front of the only other 3V8 in the field, Rochester, by a comfortable margin of 2:28.35.
 
The William Smith novice eight of Katie Lehmann, Megan Miskovsky, Nikki Andrzejczyk, Alex Belden, Catherine Pirie, Nicole O'Connell, Karly Wagner, Amanda Salzman, and Rachel Catlin finished sixth out of 16 entries in the women's novice eight event (third among Division III crews). They logged a time of 21:30.72. The Heron second novice eight was 11th overall and trailed only the University of Buffalo's 2N8. Division I Duquesne took home the gold medal in 19:14.31.
 
Novice boats only row the morning head race at the Head of the Genesee.
 
“What we achieved today on all levels, the 1V, 2V, 3V, 1N, and 2N, showed our strength and depth as a team and made me very proud to be their coach,” Chu said.
 
The Herons will get the chance to see how their speed stacks up against a national field when they compete in the Head of the Charles on Oct. 20-21.