GENEVA, N.Y.—The William Smith rowing team concluded the fall portion of its schedule on Saturday competing in the annual Challenge on the Canal. The Herons won a pair of events at their home regatta.
 
William Smith welcomed Rochester Institute of Technology and Mercyhurst to the Cayuga Seneca Canal for a 4.4-kilometer head race. In the first session teams competed in small boats (2- and 4+) and the novice eight. In the second session, the varsity eights hit the water.
 
PAIRS

• William Smith picked up its first win of the day in the pairs race. The Herons had six of the top seven finishes in the race.
• Sophomores Leah Wiebe and Meghan Bartholomay turned in the fastest time, stopping the clock at 19:55.2. They were 20 seconds faster than RIT's A entry that finished in second place.
• Sophomore Olivia Sainsbury and senior Isabella De Nes were third, crossing the line at 20:31.5.
• First-year Grace Jung and sophomore Alyana Wian placed fourth, three seconds behind Sainsbury and De Nes.
• Sophomore Olivia Helms and junior Aubrianna Ryan, first-year Mariee Voss and sophomore Anna Pedone and sophomore Lily Keefe and sophomore Grace Ann Tyne finished fifth through seventh respectively.

 
NOVICE EIGHT

• William Smith's novice eight picked up a first place race in its race in the morning.
• Skylar Strong, Isabella Foggetti, Alessandra Gialanella, Lily Liflander, Nora Smith, Aubrie Kastenhuber, Emma Burger, Demi Mouillesseaux and Paige Madison powered the boat down the race course. They stopped the clock at 19:27.3
• In the afternoon, racing with the varsity eights, they finished fifth with a time of 20:38.8

 
VARSITY FOUR

• The Herons' varsity four went off in the morning session competing against Mercyhurst and RIT.
• The Lakers won the event, by 28 seconds.
• Junior Michaela Greco, senior Syd Morrison, sophomore Emily Clark, junior Raya Schwartz and senior Janeciah Cunningham stopped the clock at 20:06.5, a minute faster than the Tigers.

 
VARSITY EIGHT

• In the varsity eight race, William Smith had three entries and RIT had two.
• In addition to the novice eight's fifth-place finish, William Smith was second and third in the event.
• The Herons "A" entry was powered by Senior Ava Lee, Bartholomay, Wiebe, De Nes, Sainsbury, Wian, Jung, Ryan and Helms. They stopped the clock at 17:36.8, four seconds behind RIT.
• William Smith's 'B" entry of Greco, Morrison, Clark, Schwartz, Cunningham, Vos, Pdone, Keefe and Tyne, posted a time of 18:40.6.

 
COACH'S CORNER
"We've had a strong fall season and I'm pleased with the depth and quality our team is developing," Head Coach Paul Bugenhagen said. "Our novice women had a very good debut yesterday. Coach Crisonino and the crew have done a great job building skills and fitness from learning to row at the beginning of the school year to racing success yesterday."
 
"With the varsity athletes, our pairs were again the focus of our racing and preparation for the spring. They raced well in the first session. In the second session, we made some errors in the first eight which we will learn from and that will certainly be motivating throughout the winter. Out second eight and novice women did very well against their counterparts from RIT. The team has had a lot of success this fall; we've got a fire in our bellies for the work ahead and what we know will be a challenging spring season in the Liberty League and across our Division III rivals."