The Bulls went into the Head of the Fish regatta hoping to repeat the success shown at the Head of the Genesee regatta nearly two weeks ago.
When the last boat crossed the finish line, Buffalo came away with two first-place finishes.
"In general, it was a pretty successful weekend," said head coach Rudy Wieler. "We're continuing to make progress and move ahead."
The Bulls traveled to Saratoga without their first and second Varsity Eight boats, which were home training. They took a majority of their Lightweight boats and Novice boats along with their third Varsity Eight.
Despite the absence their two top boats, the Bulls succeeded with their Lightweight Four and Junior Varsity Eight boats, defeating the competition in both races.
The Lightweight four, consisting of junior coxswain Britt Marshall, junior rower Margaret Surrena, sophomore rower Gina Giammichele and freshman rowers Antonette Backert and Breana Limina, finished in first place with a final time of 14:28.62, blowing out their competition as they finished nearly a minute ahead of second-place Massachusetts.
The Bulls' other first place finish came from their Junior Varsity Eight boat, raced by freshman coxswain Kate Evely, sophomore rowers Lindsay DiCosimo, Patricia Arcuri and Megan Bayley, junior rowers Jordan Talbott, Samantha Masucci and Shenita McClean and senior rowers Ewelina Kotowska and Thandiwe Price. The boat finished their race with a time of 12:41.94, beating out Williams College by nearly four seconds.
To go along with their pair of first-place victories, the Bulls also had a second-place finish from another lightweight boat, which nearly caught up to first-place Massachusetts at the end of the race.
Buffalo also had a third-place finish in the Novice Four race and fifth- and seventh-place finishes in the Novice Eight race.
"I think the depth of our squad is pretty self-evident," Wieler said. ". . . Our freshmen did a good job and certainly our three deep as well."
Wieler feels that with the Head of the Fish regatta only being an exhibition race, it helps the coaching staff understand the array of talent on their team. It also allows players to earn seats on the varsity boats, which are in high demand.
"The fact that we have such good depth, it is going to be really good for our program," Wieler said. "Down the road, it will help us be more competitive and create more competition for our people to be in the best boats."
According to Wieler, Buffalo will continue to train into the middle of November, and everybody on the team will be competing for spots on the team's top boats.
The Bulls get back in the water on Saturday as they travel to Syracuse for the Syracuse Invitational.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
