PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – The Fairfield University women's novice four capped its stellar spring season by earning the silver medal at the prestigious Dad Vail Regatta on the Schuylkill River.  The crew took second place in an event which included 54 total entries from schools across the country.
 
                Katherine Pitz, Carmen Fox, Eileen Harris, Anne Baudinet, and coxswain Mikayla Daniels won their opening race with a time of 8:04.14 over Clemson, Washington University, Clarkson, Liberty, and Brandeis. The team came back with another victory in its semifinal heat, crossing the finish line with a time of 7:39.74. In the final, the student-athletes combined for second place, just four seconds off Fordham University's winning time.
 
“It would seem that I am on a mission to make the freshman/novice women's four event synonymous with Fairfield University just as Temple are so strongly linked to the Men's varsity eight event,” Head Coach David Patterson said. “Our run over the past three years shows a gold, bronze and now a silver medal in this event. I suspect if we put all three of our line-ups on the race course at the same time the 2012 version would be the fastest. This crew has had an unbelievable run this year only being headed by crews from Villanova and Duquesne at the Knecht Cup and now Fordham at the prestigious Aberdeen Dad Vail Regatta. They have left over 110 crews in their wake. The big challenge of course, with three such competitive freshman crews over the past 3 years, is to translate that in to a dominant varsity crew, preferably an eight.
 
                The women's varsity four reached its semifinal race after placing second behind Ohio State in its opening race. The Stags were just three seconds off the Buckeyes' winning time, finishing the race in 8:05.04. Molly Graffam, Lorena Gullotta, Grace Lessard, Liz Kavanagh, and coxswain Jhomalys Moran comprised the successful shell.

“Our own varsity four had their strongest performance of the year to make it through to the semi-finals and be grouped with the top 18 in their event,” Patterson said. “Between injuries and lineup changes, this boat has struggled during the season. But, the crew came together with some really good workouts in the final two weeks and were able to make it through to the Saturday racing. However, there is still a gulf between the top 18 and the top 6 and indeed the top 3 medal winners that we have not been able to crack yet.”
 
                The Stags also entered a pair in the Dad Vail with Sam Matte and Kim Beatty working its way to a fifth place finish in its heat. The duo's time of 8:55.14 fell behind Stetson, Pittsburgh, Penn State, and New York Maritime but ahead of Susquehanna.
 
As many schools are struggling to compete in the varsity eight competition against some very well established programs with substantial support, more and more are choosing to enter the small boat events prioritizing the varsity four and the varsity pair events,” Patterson said. “The quality of the pairs racing this year was much higher than I've seen in previous years. While our own pair combination certainly were able to row well together they simply didn't have the power to match up to the other crews in their heat.

“With the landscape of women's rowing changing so dramatically next year with conference champions automatically qualifying for the NCAA tournament, the biggest challenge will be to contest the conference championship with the fastest two varsity eights and a four we can put together,” Patterson said.  “To have a realistic chance of winning the MAAC Regatta next year, this year's group will need to stick together with an injury free year along with our very strong incoming recruited class and with a deep group of walk-ons too."

                On the men's side, the freshmen/novice heavyweight eight started the day with a second-place finish in its opening heat. The Stags' time of 6:33.74 was second only to the University of Michigan which ended its run with a time of 6:13.70. The effort placed Fairfield in the semifinal round where the team finished third in 6:23.64. Marietta won the semifinal with a time of 6:05.38. The Fairfield eight consisted of Tom Siddall, Luke Auger, Chris Becker, Scott Grueneberg, Alex Johnson, Cameron Shalkowski, Stacey Grasso, Brenin Ford and coxswain Shannon Demody. The finish was the highest ever by a Fairfield 8, novice or varsity, at the Dad Vail Regatta.
 
 
                The men's novice four, which included Sam Sullivan, Ariel Miranda, Cameron Bowen, Rocco Vigorito, and coxswain Brendan Kennedy, took fifth place in its heat with a time of 7:35.58. Colgate won the race in 7:01.93, followed by Villanova, Saint Mary's, and College of Charleston.
 
“The novice four weren't able to put in their best performance when it mattered but this combination only had a couple of practices together due to injuries,” Patterson said. “All credit must be given to these guys too because they all worked hard to try and make the freshman eight which obviously pushed the first eight to reach the levels they did.”
 
                The men's varsity four secured a third-place finish in its initial outing with a time of 6:59.29, but it was not enough to advance to the semifinals. Vermont crossed the finish line first in 6:53.21 with Merchant Marine Academy next in line (6:57.18). The varsity four included Eddie Weiner, Matt McNeill, Floris-Jan Floris, Brendan Spearing, and coxswain Trent Domingos.
 
                “The men's varsity four this year have been stuck in third gear all season. It's been a very good third gear but there's just been a missing sparkle required to get to the next competitive level. No matter what adjustments we made to the lineup they lacked the racing instinct to push themselves to the fourth or even fifth gear needed in the final 500m. Knowing some of the other competitors well, the guys certainly have the power and fitness to make it at least beyond the heats. The fourth and fifth gear isn't something that appears on the race course. It has to be in evidence and rehearsed regularly, day in day out in practice. I have every confidence that all the varsity rowers will be up for the punishing challenge ahead, not least senior captain Matt McNeill who will want to end with a flourish.

“Certainly the addition of this year's freshman class will help. With the records I can find I believe this year's freshman eight is the first Fairfield men's eight to have made it past the first round. Even more exciting was their race in the semi-finals. While it is fair to say Marietta and Grand Valley were clear qualifiers to the final, the Fairfield guys could have dug deep and put in their best row of the season to come in third, or given that there was nothing to be gained by coming either third , fourth, fifth or sixth, they could have just laid down and finished anywhere that would have been comfortable. Not one guy in the boat laid down. They gave an absolutely committed and competitive effort and fought with everything they had to place third. I was quite overwhelmed with pride in their performance and credit must be given to my assistant coach Bryan Pape for leading these men to race with such dedication."
 
Patterson believes the program can build upon this performance at the 2012 Dad Vail regatta. He looks forward to the 2012-13 season as he believes with dedication and hard work that the Stags can make a run in the MAAC championships next season. 
  
“All in all we had a very satisfactory end to a very satisfying year. Our challenge remains the same. We need all our athletes to stay the course, continue to train and row and ready to fight for greater things at the varsity level.”