The UB women's crew team took to the water Saturday in its last regatta of the fall season, which is considered the "off-season" by the Bulls' coaches and rowers.
UB's standing on the leader board at the Foot of the Charles Regatta was not quite what it had been all season - of the six UB boats, only one scored a top five finish.
But the coaches were more focused on the development of the young rowers than the final standings of the regatta. Many team members were provided with the opportunity to row with a different crew than they had all season.
The fourth place finish turned in by UB's novice "A" team was considered a great success for the Bulls. It was one of the team's best races all season, as the tournament hosted some top-notch programs in the East.
"The competition this weekend was very good, Harvard and BU have very good programs," said UB head coach Rudy Wieler. "Our novice eight did a fantastic job, they were really up for this race, it was probably the best race of their season."
Competing for UB's novice eight "A" squad was Jackie Stone, Mia Pavletic, Nicole Cyr, Jill Harclerode, Crystal Byrnes, Darcie Bryant, Jessica Hughes, Beth Gaworecki with Margaret Devendorf in the coxswain seat.
Another positive for the UB rowing coaching staff was the fierce competition between the varsity four "A" and "B" teams. Each team recorded nearly identical times. The "B" team edged out the "A" squad by just over a second.
"Any time you have situation where the "B" team and the "A" team are that equal, it's very positive for us," said Wieler. "It will be very good for us going into the spring season, which is our main season."
While the UB boats were competing against each other, they were also competing against many other crews as well. The teams notched 12th and 13th place finishes in the 21-team field.
"We felt pretty good about the race," said varsity four "B" member Kaitlin Buchheit. "In practice we had beat the "A" team but it wasn't so much that we wanted to beat them we just wanted to do well and it was nice to know that we are pretty even. But we're a team, we always want our other boats to do well too."
The UB varsity four "B" entry was made up of Natalie Pugliese, Deanna Knighton, Michelle Schwach, bow seat Kasey Hansen and coxswain Kaitlin Buchheit, an Amherst native.
In other action, the Bulls JV eight squad finished ninth out of twelve boats, and the lightweight four took 16th in the varsity four competition.
Wieler, however, was aware of the fact that this race was about more than winning. He believes his squads did pretty well in the tough weather conditions in Boston.
"This was about getting the kids some experience, it's not always about winning. This was about giving the novice crews some good experience and trying some new combinations," said Wieler. "We were also evaluating people to see who is going to go to our winter training camp in Florida."
Tough weather conditions hampered the crews from each participating team, as snow and frigid temperatures had a negative effect on the rowers.
"When we woke up it was freezing cold, and I think it just got progressively colder," said UB rower Joanne Olsen. "But everyone was equally affected, although we had a long wait on the water before our race."
The Bulls will not have to face these weather conditions again until the spring season when they come back to Buffalo from their warm winter training in Florida.
The fall season for the Bulls is complete. After a brief rest, the Bulls will head to Miami Beach for winter training this January. The team will return to the water and make the trip back to Boston on April 2 to face some of the same squads.
