SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.—Behind a gold medal winning performance by the second varsity eight, the William Smith College rowing team secured its sixth consecutive Liberty League Championship today. Coupled with a silver medal effort by the varsity eight, the Herons claimed the crown by a single point over second place Rochester.
William Smith's ninth overall conference title comes with an added prize for the first time this season, an automatic berth in the NCAA Rowing Championship. This year's NCAA regatta will be held in Gold River, Calif., on May 27-28.
Opening the race schedule, the second varsity eight of
Hannah Glenshaw,
Madelaine Hamilton,
Paige Usiak,
Kylie Wyskochil,
Madeline Cook,
Danielle Lewis,
Megan Miskovsky,
Jules Picuri, and
Katie Frohman knew it needed to finish no lower than second to keep its championship hopes alive. Up off the start, the Herons slid back into second by the 500-meter mark. Trailing RIT for the next 1,000 meters, things did not look good entering the final 500. But, the crew persisted, using a powerful and composed sprint to pull ahead and take title in the last 15 strokes. William Smith covered the 2-kilometer Fish Creek course in 8:04.9, 1.72 seconds ahead of second place RIT, 4.204 seconds ahead of third place Rochester and well in front of fourth place Union.
With the second varsity eight's victory, the Heron varsity eight, ranked 12th in the nation in the latest CRCA/USRowing poll, believed it needed to win as well to retain the title. Additionally,
Susan Tuvell,
Elizabeth Warren,
Karoline Loretan,
Laurie VanBenschoten,
Ellie Lewis,
Grace Hutton,
Margaret Cameron,
Nicole Guardino, and
Elizabeth Houston need to overcome a 5.83 second deficit to No. 8 RIT posted only two weeks ago. They battled off the line, surging in a pack of three with the Tigers and Yellowjackets. In the second 500, RIT had some trouble and Tuvell capitalized on it to move the boat into first. From that point on, it was a two-boat race between William Smith and Rochester. With a four-seat lead going into the last 250 meters, the Herons stalled and the Yellowjackets closed in the last five strokes to win by less than a second.
Rochester stopped the clock at 7:47.86, just 0.774 faster than William Smith. RIT was third, more than nine seconds back with Union taking fourth, more than 21 seconds off the pace. St. Lawrence, Skidmore, and St. John Fisher rounded out the field.
The Liberty League has seven schools that compete in rowing, but only schools with an entry in both the varsity eight and second varsity eight were eligible to earn points and win the championship. The second varsity eight's victory was worth eight points, and the varsity eight's second place earned the team 17 points for a total of 25. Rochester earned 20 points for its varsity eight win, but just four points for a third place finish in the second varsity eight, one point behind the Herons. RIT was third with 20 points.
"Today's results showed that it's only and always about the team," William Smith Head Coach
Sandra Chu said. "If the 2V hadn't won their race, we would have ended the day behind Rochester in points. At the same time, the 1V overcame a huge deficit to RIT. Neither finish was good enough without the other.
"We're obviously excited to be headed to NCAAs but we're also cognizant of the fact that we need to represent our league and to that end will be continuing to train at our highest levels to find more speed."
Although it didn't factor into the championship chase—only the top two varsity eights compete at NCAAs—the Heron novice four made its spring debut, finishing third behind Rochester and St. John Fisher. William Smith posted a time of 10:12.708.
The Herons will be back in action on Saturday, April 30, when they compete in the New York State Championships in Saratoga Springs.
