With gold medals in hand, the Fairfield University rowing teams returned from the Spring Metropolitan Championships with the overall championship trophy last Saturday afternoon. The title was Fairfield's first at this event since the 2003 season.

“Rowing is generally seen as a collection of independent races for which each crew takes on its own event, and the winning or losing only effects that one crew, “ Director of Rowing David Patterson said. “However, some of the regattas we attend do reward a full team effort. It's nice to come away from the Spring Metropolitan Regatta not only with a bunch of medals for the athletes, but to come away with a championship title and trophy for the team.”

It's been a while since the Stags were able to get on the water, losing a valuable experience when the MAAC championships were cancelled earlier in the month. With that loss of competition, the big challenge for the team was to show that, despite the cancellation of the MAAC and the frustration of not being on the water, it still was able to progress and gain more speed through training.

“I always promise the best racing opportunities to the athletes that work the hardest and show that they are truly competitive in training,” Patterson said. “While I see that as a reward, our student-athletes must realize that there is also great physical challenge involved with such reward.”

For example, Patterson wanted to give the top six rowers an opportunity to row as three pairs, especially after they lost that opportunity with the cancellation of the conference championships. But with that opportunity to race pairs, all six would still have to compete in the varsity eight while the top four would add the varsity fours to their list of races at the Spring Mets.

The Stags' first race of the day came in the men's novice four, as Brendan Spearing, Phil Falco, Jerry Vissers, Sal Caiola and coxswain Ricky Solano took to the water. The crew reached the finish line first with a time of 6:02.4, edging out Fordham by nearly four seconds. With that performance, the Stags were sent to the final later in the day, which ended in a fifth place finish overall.

The women's varsity four continued its successful spring with two outstanding performances that lead to a gold medal for Krissi Gorsuch, Jess Keefe, Molly Graffam, Bridget Butterworth, and coxswain Julia Merenda. The boat finished first in its heat with a time of 7:54.0, which qualified it for the final. The Stags won the final with a time of 8:17.0, more than 10 seconds better than runner-up Sacred Heart.

“I am thrilled for this combination, especially since the final was the fourth race in less than four hours,” Patterson said. “It was nice that they were able to win again after their previous victory at the Sacred Heart Invitational. It was also great that they ended on a positive after their marathon efforts on the water for the team.”

The men's varsity pair competed in a straight final during the morning hours, which resulted in a second-place finish. Matt McNeill and Ben Andrews crossed the finish line eight seconds behind Iona, but more than 21 seconds faster than third-place Manhattan. It was the second time that the Stags combo finished second to Iona, although the pair was slightly hampered by crews who breached lanes which disrupted their attempts to give Iona a closer run.

“It's a frustrating experience to have to go through so much physical effort and not be able to find out how you stack up against the main competition due to course interference,” Patterson said. “I know the Iona combination pretty well and I think they have good speed and could contend for medals at the Dad Vail Regatta in a couple of weeks. Matt, Ben and myself are confident that we already have the speed to run with the Iona pair. We just haven't proved it on the race course which is where it matters.”

The women's novice four was next up in the lineup and followed the lead of many of their teammates by winning their heat by a comfortable margin. Margaret McGohey, Lorena Gullotta, Avery Adams, Liz Kavanagh, and coxswain Alison Bishop posted a time of 8:16.5 in the first heat, beating Iona by nearly nine seconds. In the final, the Stags put up a nearly identical time of 8:17.0 which again was better than Iona's second-place finish of 8:23.1.

“After all their victories this year – beating Barry (varsity four) and FIT (novice four) in Florida and their win at the Sacred Heart Invitational – the crew was rewarded with a victory in a medal-awarding race,” Patterson said. “There is nothing like hardware to back up the pride in winning an event.”

Fairfield placed three entries into the women's pair, a race which also included Iona, Manhattan, and Maritime. The 'A' pair consisted of Gorsuch and Keefe and resulted in a first-place finish with a time of 8:28.0. The 'B' pair included Genevieve Bleidner and Kim Beatty, took third place in 8:58.3 behind runner-up Maritime. The 'C' pair was comprised of Bridget Butterworth and Molly Graffam, as the duo secured fifth-place after finishing in 9:43.5.

“Despite the emphasis of big boat rowing in US Collegiate rowing, the ability to row and compete successfully in small boats is a great way to educate people in the art and skill of rowing,” Patterson said. “Some of the biggest legends in international rowing compete in the small boats at World and Olympic championships. In the US, there is a lot of talk about the importance of small boat rowing but so few opportunities to develop those skills on the race course when it matters the most. While Krissi and Jess are now veritably seasoned competitors in the pair, I and the team cannot rely on these two to bring home all the medals. Since they graduate in May 2012, it is important to keep on developing the talent behind the top pair.”

Already rowing with four student-athletes who had raced twice earlier in the day, and two student-athletes who had raced once, the women's varsity 8 would suffer another setback during its run. Gorsuch, Keefe, Bleidner, Beatty, Butterworth, and Graffam were joined by Kim Kesting and Sam Matte for the varsity eight race coxed by Julia Merenda. About 200 meters into the race, an oar became dislodged from the oarlock which left the Stags with seven active rowers for a good part of the race. Despite getting the oar back in the lock and returning to full strength, Dowling built a lead that was insurmountable for the Stags which resulted in a second-place finish at 7:14.6, just six seconds off the winning time but still running comfortably ahead of Sacred Heart and Iona.

“Obviously we were disappointed that an oar came loose during the race,” Patterson said. “The same thing happened to me in 1995. I have to give a lot of credit to the whole crew because they didn't give up. In fact, they worked so hard to close the gap when in their minds they must have know that it would be a lost cause. They focused as one, and give it everything and caught up a huge amount of water on Dowling.”

The men's novice eight closed the day with a gold medal, finishing the course in 6:58.6 which was 20 seconds better than runner-up Fordham. The crew included Brendan Spearing, Phil Falco, Jerry Vissers, Sal Caiola, Marco Raffaelli, Eddie Weiner, Jimmy Fusco, Collin Galbato, and coxswain Ricky Solano. This was the second race for this group in the big boat this year and as it did the first time, resulted in a win.

“I'm very proud of these guys with the way they have worked for each other and worked for their coach Bryan Pape. We have been waiting for guys tough enough and committed enough to really be called the foundation of this men's program. I really hope these guys will stay together and stick to this for the long haul. For four years, it has been a struggle to find eight freshmen to row and now we have 11 of them who not only row, but win. Ricky Solano has developed into an integral part of this team and his coxing skills along with the command of his crew is getting better and better.”

When all was said and done, the Stags left with two trophies – the overall and the women's championship. It was a just reward for the work the teams put into preparing for this race, and was the perfect tonic for the frustration felt over the last few weeks.