The Fairfield Men's and Women's Rowing squads competed in the third annual Sacred Heart University Invitational Regatta on the Housatonic River. The event featured crews from Skidmore, Army, Iona, Drake, Fairfield and Sacred Heart. On a day that spring finally sprung after a challenging week of training, the Stags had arguably their most successful run at this event.

Women's Freshman Four
The day got off to a great start with the women's freshman four comprised of Margaret McGohey, Lorena Gullotta, Avery Adams, Elizabeth Kavanagh, coxed by Alison Bishop edging out a strong Iona combination with a big margin following to the other competitors Army A, Iona B, Army B and Sacred Heart.

Coach Dave Patterson Comments
“I am very encouraged by the start this crew has had this season. The freshman squad has been through a number of challenges already this year. There has been a large attrition rate from the freshman squad this year including people who arguably were stronger and more experienced and quite frankly owed more to the team than they actually gave. They also lost their coach who moved on to a full time position at another club just two weeks before their season opening regatta in Florida. However if ever there was evidence for people overcoming adversity and coming back stronger, it is the success and no less the attitude of this crew.

Their first race this season was against a Barry University varsity four, which for a division II school is an event that is essential for NCAA DII Championship qualification, and the Fairfield novice four were able to beat them with ease. Their second race was against the Florida Institute of Technology novice four and again the Fairfield combination won with ease. Going in to this weekend's regatta, I was expecting a significant challenge from the Iona crew and once again the Fairfield crew was able to match the challenge.

The qualities within this crew combine to make the perfect rower. Margaret is 100% the team player who sets a great example that I hope many across the board can learn from. I have asked her row on port, on starboard, in varsity boats in the fall, in a freshman boat this spring, sometimes in a four and sometimes in an eight and she will give everything she has regardless of what I ask. Lorena, sitting in the three seat is one of the most coachable athletes I have come across in my time at Fairfield. She listens and she acts to make changes. She takes on the personal responsibility to get better.

Avery, sitting in the two seat, while still working to get her full athletic ability wrapped around the sport of rowing, is unquestionably one of the best athletes on the team. Her ability to work hard is across the board both with top academic results along with some of the most successful erg scores seen on the team not just by a freshman walk-on but by the whole varsity squad. Liz, sitting bow seat, is one of only five people on the whole team (men and women, novice and varsity) to post an erg score that gets better with every test which is the best evidence available that someone is consistently training with intent. She doesn't take weeks off, she doesn't get slower over school breaks, she doesn't have an indoor season lull in performance. She just gets better and better and what coach could ask for more? And then arguably the most unsung hero of the group is the coxswain Alison Bishop, who gets the most important things right. She steers a straight course, she looks after her crew and she looks after the equipment. And even better is we have two freshmen, Sam Matte and Rachel Lang who want to get in to this freshman four line up so the incumbents have to work every day just to hold on to their seats.

Varsity Pair
The men's varsity pair came down next which provided our top pair of Ben Andrews and Matt McNeill an early season shock. The Stags finished third in a field of three pairs which included Iona's top four broken into two pairs.

Coach Patterson Comments
“Ben Andrews will graduate the most successful rower in school history but I know he doesn't want to end with a limp year so I know he will be driven to raise his game for this, the final run in of his four year commitment to the team. Matt McNeill has worked hard this year and is a now a genuine varsity athlete following a mediocre freshman year. They have a few weeks now to work together to get fitter and stronger. They also have a few weeks to figure out a more effective rowing style which will mean changes for both of them. This will be hardest on Ben because he will need to commit to changing bad habits engrained over years and years of rowing that he's never had to correct because he was winning. With hard work and an open mind to change this pair still has a season of success to chase.”

Women's Varsity Four A
The women's varsity A four race came down next with a comprehensive victory for the Fairfield crew of Krissi Gorsuch, Jessica Keefe, Molly Graffam, Bridget Butterworth coxed by Julia Merenda.

Coach Patterson Comments
“This is the boat class we need to succeed in this year to show the rest of the collegiate rowing world that we are intent on catching up. Having done very well in the varsity pair and the novice four last year we need to show that we haven't rested on our laurels, that we are not content on just trying to compete in boat classes that don't actually matter in the world of DI rowing. To want to limit ourselves to these minor boat classes would just show the rest of the US Collegiate Rowing world that we lack ambition. It is certainly an exciting opportunity to put together a lineup that contains two Dad Vail gold medalists and two Dad Vail silver medalists with four genuine contenders still fighting to get in to this crew while also battling for the right to compete in the pair as our second focus boat.”

Women's Varsity Four B
The women's varsity B four race was won by Army, followed by Sacred Heart, Fairfield and Iona. The Fairfield crew of Genevieve Bleidner, Kim Kesting, Katie Sillo, Kim Beatty coxed by Michelle DeJoseph had a good race but not a great race.

Coach Patterson Comments
“While I am not big on making excuses, this combination is currently racing in a shell that is simply not a good fit for them as we wait for the replacement boats for the women's boats that were damaged beyond repair due to the brutal winter weather. Obviously the people in this crew should all be rowing with the ambition to try and get in to the A four and the best way to do that is to make this combination work as effectively as possible with the equipment available. With this result my line up decisions for the top four seem to be vindicated but every week the challenge to all team members is, if they have the seat they want to prove me right and if they don't have the seat they think they have earned prove me wrong!”

Men's Novice Eight
The men's novice eights race provided perhaps the biggest and certainly the most pleasant surprise of the day with their victory over Iona, Army and Skidmore. The crew with Brendan Spearing, Phil Falco, Jerry Vissers, Sal Caiola, Marco Raffaelli, Eddie Weiner, Jimmy Fusco, Collin Galbato coxed by Ricky Solano is the first freshman eight to win a race since the program went varsity in 2007.

Coach Patterson Comments
“Our men's varsity squad has effectively amounted to a pair for now 3 years. This year was definitely a 'make it or break it' season whether that is for me personally or for the squad as a whole, especially with Ben Andrews, who has carried this program, graduating this year. However we had a great turn out of freshman walk-ons to supplement our two recruited athletes who have themselves been more successful than any other recruits given that they have stayed committed to the team. New men's assistant coach Bryan Pape has made a tremendous impact on this group and has certainly taught me a lesson in inspiring freshman walk-ons. I have never seen a group of guys spend less time in a boat than this group in the fall. Bryan simply didn't give them an inch. When one person showed up late for practice they all did land training. When one person underperformed the group ended up doing land training. They learned a very hard lesson but learned it effectively. The opportunity to get in to a very expensive racing boat and compete for your school as a Division I athlete is an immense privilege and not a right. Through land-training session after land-training session this group forged an immense bond of brotherhood and at the time when most walk-on athletes quit (during the school winter break) this group of guys all returned and are now beginning to reap the rewards of their hard work. Thanks to this group of guys and coach Bryan Pape, the school has a foundation for a new men's varsity squad that has taken three years to find. This alone is very exciting for the school as we now look to grow in strength and number over the coming years.

Women's Second Varsity Eight
The women's second varsity eight race also ended in a great result. This crew comprised of the six freshmen on the squad plus the two varsity athletes not to make the first varsity eight and a novice coxswain that first stepped in to a boat two weeks ago at the start of spring break. The lineup was Margaret McGohey, Lorena Gullotta, Avery Adams, Liz Kavanagh, Shanee Griffith, Meghan Sullivan, Rachel Lang, Sam Matte coxed by Molly Knox. The crew had a convincing victory over Sacred Heart, Skidmore and Army.

Coach Patterson Comments
“Obviously the freshmen who raced in the four, as previously stated, do not yet know how to lose a race. Sam Matte and Rachel Lang, who both would like to earn a spot in the novice four, know that winning this event helps them in their quest because the best way to get out of a crew they don't want to be in is make it look good. Obviously for varsity athletes, Shanee and Meghan, it is disappointing to not make the top varsity eight. But they do at least understand how important it is for the development of this program that we have to race two eights and a four well to earn respect amongst our Division I mid-major peers. While athletes in the past were more likely to quit than stay their term and row in a second boat surrounded by freshmen, the whole team is beginning to understand the importance of the transition we are trying to make and that every boat counts as a team and as a team we have to make every boat be as fast and as successful as possible. By doing what I have asked them to do and race in this second varsity eight, they have experienced one thing that Shanee has never experienced before and what Meghan has not experienced since graduating out of the freshman eight in 2009 and that is the feeling of race victory.

Men's Novice Eight
The men's novice eight broke up in to two novice fours and placed third and fifth of six. The A line up of Brendan Spearing, Sal Caiola, Jerry Vissers and Phil Falco coxed by Ricky Solano and the B line up of Marco Raffaelli, Eddie Weiner, Jimmy Fusco and Collin Galbato coxed by Paige Manacek both were able to put in good performances but similar to the women's B four, not as good as they can be

Coach Patterson Comments
“As young racers, this experience will provide these student-athletes with an invaluable lesson. The four will be the focus boat for the top guys as we build through the Knecht Cup to the Dad Vail Regatta. Iona College has experience of getting their freshmen to a grand final in this novice event at the Dad Vail event so they will be a good local challenge for us to focus on for the next four weeks. Results show we need to get at least 30 seconds faster.”

Women's Varsity Eight
After such a successful regatta it was a shame to end up on a disappointment for the marquee race of the day for the team – the women's varsity eight. The lineup of Krissi Gorsuch, Bridget Butterworth, Molly Graffam, Jessica Keefe, Katie Sillo, Kim Kesting, Genevieve Bleidner, Kim Beatty coxed by Julia Merenda had the power, boat speed and talent to win this event and instead they crossed over the line fourth of six crews.

Coach Patterson Comments
“As well as Julia steered for the four earlier in the day, in the eight she simply gave her crew too much work to do adding meters down the length of the 2000m course that did not need to be rowed. However, even when the eight got back in to contention at about the 800m mark they did not press on and push through when they were well positioned to do so. The biggest problem we have as a squad with rowing the big boat is we have a combination of talented athletes in the boat who either don't want to row it or don't believe they can row it successfully and 100% physical effort without 100% mental commitment does not make for a successful racing eight. Regardless this is essentially the only boat class that matters in the US college rankings and whether our athletes want to row it or not they have to. A performance like this race makes me want to row the boat more not less because we simply have to get better in the eight to earn the respect of our peers. By 2013, with the advent of automatic qualifiers for NCAA DI Rowing Championships, the option to row smaller boats simply won't be available so the sooner the team buys in to the culture demanded of Division I rowing, the smoother the transition will be. We had great support from parents and alums at this race. It was interesting that one of our fastest graduates, who as a varsity athlete spent all her time competing in the pair and the four, commented to me that she doesn't even care about the results of the four and the pair regardless of their success because as a Fairfield alum she wants to see development in the boat class she knows is the only one that really matters. The team needs to buy in to this philosophy for themselves, for the success of their team and for the pride of their supporting alums.”