GENEVA, N.Y.-The William Smith College rowing team opened its fall racing season by hosting the annual Challenge on the Canal this morning. The Herons claimed two victories at the season opening regatta, finishing first in the varsity eight and varsity four races.
 
Conditions on the Seneca Cayuga Canal were smooth and glassy for the eights but a strong head current hampered the finishing times. William Smith's 1V powered by Hannah Baron, Molly Dexter, Emma Falkenstein, Lucy Brancazio, Emma Lubrano, Sarah Laferrera, Camila Goclowski, Giulia Acchione and Taryn Wenberg started first in its division and controlled the race from the start.
 
"We had a very clean and very aggressive race – which was our goal," Head Coach Sandra Chu said. "We've been having some stellar practices and the squad was determined to race like they practice. We absolutely did that today. I think it is always a challenge to be out in pole position and only racing a clock, but they held themselves to a high standard of excellence."
 
The Herons finished almost two minutes ahead of Liberty League opponent St. John Fisher, stopping the clock at 19:05. The Cardinals and Herons were the only entries in the women's varsity eight race.
 
The next race up was the novice eight race. With only three weeks of rowing under their belts, the Herons novice eight of Caroline Putsay, Mackenzie Barrall, Freya Birkas-Dent, Sara King, Hannah Bilton, Scott McClearn, Carolyn Girard, Sofia Schuller, and Emma Bilton showed their composure and strong fundamentals. They powered down the course to a time of 22:32, finishing second behind Rochester's novice eight.
 
"This group of walk-ons has been strong from the first day," Chu said. "They all have a lot of natural athleticism.  They have proven themselves to be great teammates and competitors and we are so excited to add them to the nest.  They finished two and a half minutes ahead of SJFC and almost 4 minutes ahead of Nazareth, whose programs also both boated true novice (all walk-on) entries.  I think their margin is a testament to their willingness to work hard to pick up the skills but also to the coaching skills of Assistant Coach Libby Hughes '14 whose direction has put these women in such a strong position so early in the year."
 
Following the morning break, temperatures rose but racing conditions remained perfect. The varsity fours rowed on a flipped course, now with the current on their tails. Their times were faster than the eights and an indicator of how swiftly the current was moving. William Smith's A boat of Susan Hurwitz, Dexter, Alexandra Deku, Annie Wertheimer, and Lubrano, put their bow ball over the finish line 51 seconds ahead of Rochester. The Herons stopped the clock at 17:14.  The B entry of Baron, Hope Lee, Sarah Lewicki, Tori Wissa, and Katie Frohman finished in third place with a time of 18:37 beating Buffalo, St. John Fisher, and Nazareth.
 
"Our fours showed the depth of our team," Chu said. "These women rowed classy and risky. I loved watching them race. They were put into line-ups yesterday so no one had time to really work on much, but because we coach the team for agility and adaptability, they were able to execute strong skills."
 
After racing, the day featured alumnae speaker, Lisa Murray-Roselli '88 who talked about the power of walking onto a brand new rowing program. Her experiences as a very high academic achiever and member of the first crews at William Smith led her to urge our students to live boldly, make mistakes, be intolerant of mediocrity, and to hear other people's confidence in you when they ask you to lead or execute a task.
 
William Smith will be back on the race course at the Head of the Genesee next Saturday, Oct. 6.