ORCHARD BEACH, N.Y. -- The Fairfield University rowing team placed second at the Metropolitan Intercollegiate Rowing Association's Spring Championship Regatta. The Stags scored 88 points which was second only to Army's 124 points. The women's varsity 4 and the men's varsity 4 each won their respective final to help the team's cause.

The women's novice 4 started things off at the event, and promptly finished second in their heat with a time of 5:41.97. The time sent the Stags into the final, where the team posted a fourth-place finish. The novice 4 included Katie Hanson, Alex Doomany, Lorna Baggott, Caitlin Ligouri, and coxswain kate Halloran.

The women's novice 8 earned a spot in the final with a time of 6:55 in the heat, finishing second to Binghamton in that race. The Stags secured a third-place finish with a time of 8:38.92 behind the efforts of Katie Hanson, MC Taylor, Margaret Miller, Brianna Kouri, Lorna Baggott, Alex Doomany, Kate Halloran, Caitlin Ligouri, and coxswain Daria Anuszkiewicz.

"It was a great effort in their first race," Head Coach Dave Patterson said. "It is great for the eight to finish their season with a medal, but there still is work to be done for next year."

The varsity 4 won the gold medal, beating Iona, Sacred Heart, Stony Brook, and Army in the final. The Stags won the opening heat with a time of 7:54.88 to reach the final. Fairfield captured the gold by crossing the line in 8:31.50, nearly four seconds ahead of runner-up Iona. The winning squad was comprised of Lindsay Ryan, Sam Rosen, Christina DiCioccio, Alysse Merullo, and coxswain Susan Clancy.

"This crew is getting stronger and stronger every week and it is great to see them get the final," Patterson said. "I look forward to seeing this crew challenge for a place in the semi-finals at the Dad Vail Regatta in a couple weeks."

The women's varsity 8 secured fourth place in final as Becca Bowes, Mary Crowley, Lindsay Ryan, Alyesse Merullo, Karisten Strong, Lauren Lipyanka, Christina DiCioccio, Sam Rosen, and coxswain Susan Clancy finished the race with a time of 7:30.50.

The men's novice 4 took second place in the final after winning its heat, crossing the line in 7:07.81. With the victory, the Stags continued on to the final where they were runner up to Iona with a time of 7:11.08. The crew consisted of Greg Behrens, John O'Hara, Chris Melcher, Matt McDonagh, and coxswain Michelle Mistretta.

"This was a strong second place finish for the men's novice four," Patterson said. "We competed well against walk-on crews, but need to improve in order to compete against experienced recruited teams."

The novice 8 perservered through choppy conditions to take third place behind Army and Iona. The crew took the course with a time of 3:42.76, finishing ahead of Binghamton, Scranton, and Stony Brook. The team included Greg Behrens, Matt McDonagh, Chris Melcher, John O'Hara, Ben Andrews, John Tiene, Ray Lynch, Jorge Espino, and coxswain Michelle Mistretta.

The men's novice 4 saw the Stags send two entries into the top three with the Fairfield B team winning the race (7:17.50) and the Fairfield A team crossing the line in third place (7:25.91). The B boat consisted of lightweight rowers Dave Brems, Kyle Halloran, Ben Andrews, Steve Ligouri, and coxswain Amanda Klecker. The varsity A entry included James Jessup, Jared Strauss, Scott Grady, Alex Papa, and coxswain Matt Greninger.

"Both Fairfield boats made the final comfortably," Patterson said. "The lightweights were able to maintain an edge out on the race course, taking home their third gold medal of the season despite this not actually being their normal lightweight event. All things told, Fairfield had a successful day of competition coming second place."