The water at the head of the Ohio was calm as an overcast sky looked down on the UB women's crew team. But the gloomy conditions and eventual raindrops were no match for the UB rowers as the Bulls left Pittsburgh with first place finishes in three events at the Head of the Ohio Regatta.
The finishes came for the Bulls in the lightweight eight, the lightweight four, and the club four races.
"We were very pleased," said UB Head Coach Rudy Wieler. "We had a good month of practices and it really showed."
The Bulls entered three teams in the Club four event, with the "A" and "B" entries placing first and second respectively. The "A" entry consisted of Sandra Kisil, Kali Spoto, Corinne Blum, Tara Celestini, and Freshman Sher Briggs in the coxswain seat. Buffalo's "C" boat finished fourth out of the 28 teams in the race.
UB's lightweight eight team blew away the competition to take first place, posting a 35 second victory over a team from the St. Catharine's Rowing Club. This Bulls' boat was comprised of Katie Barnum, Karen Corey, Jessica Barrell, Mary Szvoren, Caitlin Hambridge, Beth Gaworecki, Jen Victor and Ginelle Michael. Guiding the boat as coxswain was junior Kaitlin Buchheit.
Also notching a first place finish for the Bulls was the lightweight four boat. While the other victorious UB teams won in commanding fashion, the lightweight four squad crossed the finish line just a half-second in front of a well-conditioned lineup from the Three Rivers Rowing Association. Buffalo's team recorded a time of 20:21.58.
"I think the results in the lightweight four and the lightweight eight was very noteworthy," said Wieler. "The club four squad had a very solid showing."
The rain held off until nearly the end of the day, and the poor weather conditions diminished as the day went on.
"It was actually pretty nice out most of the day," said UB Rower Joanne Olsen. "It was overcast but it didn't start raining until about three o'clock."
At this same race last year, the conditions were considerably worse. Coach Wieler welcomed the improved weather, believing it gave his team a better chance to show their ability.
"The weather held up pretty good," said Wieler. "Last year it was really windy and that made for bad conditions, this year the weather was much better, which makes for a better competition."
UB also had strong races from the club eight team, and the varsity eight team. Both teams had positive showings on the water, taking third place honors. The freshman eight took eighth place in a 24-team field, while the freshman four squad finished fourth.
"Our freshman teams have a lot of potential but they will need to get their conditioning at a higher level, and to be frank they need to learn to pull at a Division I level," Said Wieler. "But, they certainly have potential for a good season."
The UB women's crew team will be in action again this weekend as they head to Rochester on Sunday to compete in the Stonehurst Regatta. Several high profile squads will be competing including Harvard, Syracuse, and Queens, a Canadian college.
