Battling some of the nation's toughest competition as well as a torrent crosswind and pouring rain, the women's rowing team found a way to have a successful regatta at the Knecht Cup last weekend in Camden, N.J.
The most notable race came as the Second Varsity Eight boat crossed the finish line with a time of 7:29.3 during the grand final, giving the Bulls their only first place finish of the day. This was the first Buffalo boat to ever come away with victory in the Knecht Cup. The Varsity Eight boat also had a solid race, finishing in a time of 7:22.2, which was good enough to give the team a fourth place finish in their respective event.
Also making the Grand Final was the Novice Eight crew who finished ahead of 25 other squads in the event. The Lightweight Eight boat, led by senior coxswain Kaitlin Buchheit, finished ninth for the Bulls in the petite final. Buffalo had three teams make it to the Grand Final.
"They rowed to the occasion and I'm really proud of them," said head coach Rudy Wieler. "We've never had more than one crew in the finals at the Knecht Cup, and this year we had three. We were the only school that had three teams in the finals in those three races."
Calling the shots for the first-place-finishing Second Varsity Eight squad was sophomore coxswain Margaret Devendorf. Pulling the oars in front of Devendorf were fellow sophomores Jessica Hughes, Jackie Stone, and Nicole Cyr, as well as seniors Chandra Hazey, Bonnie McVicker, Joanne Olsen, Alexis Grates, and Karen Corey.
"This was just a great way to start our season," Grates said. "It was hard to focus a little bit this weekend with all the obstacles. But, I think we are all just racers, when we get out there we take it to a different level."
Although the Varsity Eight boat finished in fourth, they still led a great weekend, losing in the finals to the University of Massachusetts, Gonzaga, and Villanova.
During the semi-finals, the team boasted a faster race than both Gonzaga and Villanova. In the semi-final they placed second.
This was the first time that the Varsity Eight team has raced together, and they still managed to finish fourth out of the 29-team field in the final. The squad is powered by the oars of freshmen Lauren Sexton, Bridget Yannes, Melina Dicosimo, and Amanda Garbacz, sophomore Paige Baritot, junior Corinne Blum, and seniors Natalie Pugliese, and Emilee Norris, with sophmore Sher Briggs in the coxswain seat.
"This was their first race together as a crew," Wieler said. "It's important to note that four of the girls from the Varsity Eight were freshmen. I think they learned a lot this weekend. They raced extremely well in the semi-finals, but in the finals they were not quite as fast. I don't think they raced as well as they would have liked in the finals."
In addition to the cup's poor conditions, the team experienced some problems with transportation, leaving eight hours later than planned. The late start did not allow them to have a practice the day before.
"I think that as a team we performed very well. When you go into these things you never know what will happen," Wieler said. "The circumstances with the way the weekend started off didn't help. We were supposed to leave around six in the morning, and we didn't end up leaving until two in the afternoon. The bus from the bus company didn't show up, though it wasn't the University's fault. (UB) really scrambled to get us a bus."
The women's rowing team will take to the water again when they host Eastern Michigan in the only home match of the season on Saturday. The Bulls will be battling the Eagles for the Nan Harvey Memorial Cup.
