The UB women's crew squad began their fall season with meets for the past two weekends.
Their first meet was Oct. 6 in Pittsburgh at the Head of the Ohio Regatta, a race down the Ohio River, competing with teams from Penn State, Navy, and the University of Texas. The Bulls' lightweight four, Sarah Wold, Karey Smollar, Victoria Kolomiets, Courtney Kane and Becky Mohr made an impressive showing, with a second-place finish out of 18 teams, scoring them a silver medal.
"Competition was tough, it was our first regatta [race] of the season, and we were happy to get off to a great start," said Smollar.
Buffalo also entered two varsity heavyweight eight boats. UB's number one boat placed in seventh, and the number two boat finished 16th out of the 31 teams that entered.
UB had their second race last Saturday during the "Head of the Niagara" meet, held at the West Side Rowing Club on the Niagara River. It was the only local appearance this team will have for the remainder of the fall season.
While the women did not have the success they found the first week, the contest proved to be a good learning opportunity for the young players on the squad. Fewer schools competed, rendering UB able to run more boats, gaining crucial experience for a team made up of many freshmen.
"It was great to let the home crowd see us," said Bulls Coach Meg Barnes. "The race was not highly competitive and was an opportunity to let our varsity-eights row in groups of four to determine what team would be best fit to race at the 'Head of the Charles' next weekend."
The team's official finishes were second and third out of the three teams competing in the heavyweight-eight, losing by a mere 14 seconds to Geneseo.
In the lightweight-four, UB ran three boats in the eight-boat race, finishing third, fifth, and sixth, and losing by 11 seconds to the South Niagara Rowing Club of Welland, Ont.
On Sunday the Bulls took a short ride to Rochester to compete in the "Stonehurst Capital Invitational Regatta" on the Genesee River.
The race was extremely competitive, with "elite" collegiate programs such as Harvard and Cornell taking the top four spots.
UB's heavyweight-eight boats placed 16th and 22nd out of the 28 boats in the field. Harvard easily won first place.
In a race with the lightweight-fours, UB placed 12th out of 17 boats. Syracuse took first in the competition.
This weekend, the Bulls will be at Boston's annual "Head of the Charles" meet, one of the world's largest rowing events, with over 5,400 athletes competing. Women's crew earned their invitation by winning the SUNY championship last spring.
