"Row, row, row your boat" is not something you will hear head coach Rudy Wieler chanting to his ladies on Sunday afternoons when the Bulls' rowing team is competing in the 2008-2009 season.
The Head of the Genesee was held Sunday in Rochester, which featured rowing squads from Buffalo, Cornell, Syracuse and Western Ontario. The meet was the second appearance for the Bulls women's rowing team during the fall 2008 season.
"This is really our first big competition of the year in which all crews get to compete," Wieler said. "We raced one four and four eights and really wanted to get a feel of what we had as a team by the time we came home after the meet."
The teams raced a three-mile course in the morning and then a 1,500-meter race in the afternoon. Taking the 1,500-meter time of each individual boat and then multiplying it by a magic number of three determines the winner. This number is then added to the three-mile time, giving the final result time.
The Head of the Genesee included competition by boats made up of four rowers and eight rowers. The contest including the boats of four is called the Open Four race and the contest of the boats of eight, the Open Eight. Each boat also has a coxswain that is responsible for steering.
In the Open Eight race, four of the 10 boats competing were under the control of Bulls athletes. These four boats consisted of a Varsity-I Eight, a Varsity-II Eight, a Lightweight Eight and a Novice Eight.
Buffalo's Varsity-I boat finished fourth overall in the Open Eight with a total time of 33:11.99 and was made up of freshman coxswain Alison Sheehan, senior Lauren Sexton, freshman Brittany Ronald, senior Melina DiCosimo, senior Bridget Yannes, sophomore Ashley Hanhurst, sophomore Sasha Bailey, senior Morgan Witte and junior Cathleen Streicher.
Bulls Varsity-II Eight finished in seventh place with a time of 34:19.79, the Lightweight Eight in ninth place at 35:46.32, and the Novice Eight in 10th place at 37:34.96.
The highlight of the afternoon for Buffalo came in the Open Four as the Bulls finished in first place, more than 20 seconds ahead of second place Cornell. The Bulls won both the headrace and the sprint race, finishing with a time of 36:40.99. The Varsity Four team that raced the event was made up of freshman coxswain Kate Everly, junior Tara Rudkoski, senior Amanda Garbacz, junior Alana Sharpe and junior Francisca Nwoke.
Wieler feels that his athletes are slowly beginning to find themselves and their place on the rowing team.
"We haven't certainly identified our best kids yet," Wieler said. "The group that raced in the Open Four is definitely competing to ultimately be in the Varsity Eight. The fact that those kids got to get out there and take home a victory was certainly something special for us as a team."
The victory of the Varsity Four boat was the first time Buffalo had won an event at this Regatta.
Wieler mentioned that the fall rowing season is very comparable to the preseason in football, where the goal is to assess the team as a whole and get them trained to compete in the spring.
"The fall is the time period in which you evaluate athletes, give them race experience, train them, get them fit, and get them technically rowing well," Wieler said. "In the winter, we then want to make them stronger and even fitter and then we go out in the spring and race for all the marbles."
While the girls are just beginning their season, Weiler is truly confident in their overall performance.
"I think that we've got a talented young squad," he said. "I think that with good work and aiming high I think we'll do well this season."
The next event for the rowing team is the Head of the Fish Regatta in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., on Oct. 26 at noon. Competing in this event will be the Novices and Lightweights, while the Varsity and Second Varsity squads look to train for a rematch against Syracuse and Cornell on Nov. 1 at the Syracuse Invitational.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
