NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. -- The Fairfield University rowing teams closed out the Fall season with a quality effort at the Fall Metropolitan Regatta, hosted by the Metropolitan Intercollegiate Rowing Association.
Women's Novice Four
The women's novice four put together the best performance of the day for the Stags, taking second place in the A heat behind Fordham University. A second novice four entry saw action in the B heat, and came home with a third-place finish behind Fordham and Sacred Heart, but ahead of Iona and New York University.
Coach Patterson's Comments:
The stand out performance of the day was the women's novice four of Rebecca Ponessa, Logan Thorpe, Avery Adams, Sam Matte, and coxswain Alison Bishop. The crew, filled with walk-on student-athletes, is obviously working hard to measure up to the success of last season's novice four. Fighting for places in the top novice boat are freshmen Lorena Gullotta, Emily Bower, Elizabeth Kanavagh, Rachel Lang, and coxswain Paige Manacek.
Women's Varsity Four
The women's varsity four also secured a third-place finish in the A heat, as Fordham and Army finished ahead of the Fairfield crew. Bridget Butterworth, Katie Sillo, Jessica Keefe, Genevieve Bleidner, and coxswain Julia Merenda were responsible for the effort that pushed the Stags in front of Iona and Sarah Lawrence. The Stags also entered a crew into the B heat, handled by Morgan Geiger, Kim Beatty, Shanee Griffith, Meghan Sullivan, and coxswain Michelle DeJoseph.
Coach Patterson's Comments:
The crew's performance did have a disappointing tinge to it by trailing an Army Crew that they were able to beat at the Head of the Charles two weeks earlier. Their race plan was disrupted by some steering from the Fordham crew that pushed Army over a line into the Fairfield crew which led to the race being abandoned after 500 meters. However, these disruptions affected all crews in the race but the question is how well each crew handled the frustration of a re-row especially with no penalties given. In the B heat, the crew found itself off the pace of the strong competition from Army and Fordham. But, the crew was able to eek out a placing just above conference rivals Sacred Heart and proved substantially faster than the B entry from Iona.
Women's Novice Eight
The women's novice eight pulled double duty when the two novice four competitors combined for this event. Fatigue may have been the factor as the Stags finished last in the A heat, somewhat off the pace of winner Army.
Coach Patterson's Comments:
The women's novice eight ended with a disappointing finish in their heat. Additionally, the Sacred Heart crew put in a dominant performance in the B heat so it is clear that in-conference competition is going to be tough this year among the freshmen.
Women's Varsity Eight
The women's varsity eight used a solid performance to finish third ahead of Iona but was allowed Army to slip into second behind race winner Fordham. The boat included Bridget Butterworth, Katie Sillo, Jessica Keefe, Genevieve Bleidner, Kim Beatty, Shanee Griffith, Margaret McGohey, Molly Graffam, and coxswain Michelle DeJoseph.
Coach Patterson's Comments:
The assessment for the women's team performance on the whole is that things went okay - nothing was bad but we would have hoped for better. The Metropolitan Regatta, fall and spring, are two races that we should look to dominate very much in the manner Fordham does. While we might want in theory to put ourselves in Fordham's league, we have to work our way there.
