Massachusetts Daily Collegian

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

Massachusetts Daily Collegian

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

Massachusetts Daily Collegian

UMass rowing excels in both meets over the weekend

The Massachusetts rowing team took home multiple first place finishes in Hadley on Sunday during a busy day of competition in which the Minutewomen had a meet with Colgate in the morning, followed by another meet with four other schools in the afternoon.

The results were nice for UMass, but the fact that it didn’t have to travel paid huge dividends for the team. Severe weather caused the meets to shift venues, forcing the other schools to come to Hadley to race the Minutewomen in unfamiliar waters.

“It was a nice situation in that we weren’t expecting to be home,” UMass coach Jim Dietz said. “Due to the severity of the weather some other schools came here. To race Colgate in the morning and do a turnaround and race an hour later showed they had speed and consistency”

With regards to how his team responded to the long day of racing, Dietz said, “To make a cooking analogy, we put a fork in them and they were done.”

The Minutewomen began the day with a meet against Colgate in which they won all three races. Scheduled to compete on Saturday, the meet was delayed due to poor weather conditions.

In the first varsity-8 race, the UMass V8 team finished in first place with a time of  seven minutes, 29 seconds, beating the UMass 2V8 team by just 23 seconds. The UMass V8 team consisted of Heather Pekarovich, Taryn Wilson, Emily Mann, Marika Kopp, Pippa Edwards, Candace Miller, Sam Kolvson, Nicole Juul-Hindsgaul and Allanah Rubi-Mooney.

“The first boat is doing well,” Dietz said. “We were missing Lauren St. Pierre with an injury, so Nicole Juul-Hindsgaul filled in well.”

With a time of 7:52, the UMass 2V8 team consisted off Haley Eovine, Haley York, Hannah Monahan, Natalie Boisvert, Hadley Irvin, Becca Adams, Teagan Baumen, Krysten Menks, and Estefania Marti. Finishing after Colgate was the UMass 3V8+ team with a time of 8:16. The boat was made up of Emily Hajjar, Rachel Boudreau, Nicole DeStefano, Kyla Miller, Gabby Hayward, Cate Murphy, Makenzie Gennette, Maggie Curran and Sam Wonderlin.

In the second varsity-8 race, the Minutewomen again took first place. The UMass 4V8+ team finished with a time of 8:23, defeating Colgate by 16 seconds. Competing for the UMass 4V8+ team was Maddie Bushey, Julia Deanne, Colleen Szeto, Nicole Stone, Melissa Donahue, Leah Hitchcock, Carla Obsert, Hallie Dunlap and Leanne Ondrieka.

The UMass Novice 4+ teams also shined in the morning meet, taking first and second place and finishing ahead of Colgate. The UMass A boat finished in first with a time of 9:56 and consisted of Ellen Chow, Erica Shannon, Mia Bornstein, Lindsey Brown and Amanda Burton. The UMass B boat came in second with a time of 10:05. Competing in that race was Tanya Smith, Molly McCabe, Alisha Weinstein, Elaina Falcone and Kathryn Wheeler

After a short break the Minutewomen returned to action for their regularly scheduled meet with Wellesley College, William Smith College, Williams College and New Hampshire. In the first varsity the UMass V8 team again took first place, finishing with a time of 6:02.24. UMass also prevailed in the second varsity-8 race, as the UMass 2V8 team finished first with a time of 6:09.65.

The Minutewomen suffered their only varsity loss of the day in the third varsity-8 race. The UMass 3V8 team finished just nine seconds behind William Smith with a time of 6:23. In the novice-8 race UMass finished last with a time of 6:49.49.

Next weekend the rowing team will travel to West Windsor Township, N.J., for the Knecht Cup.

“It is an event we do every year,” Dietz said. “It is a really big event that will have really fast competition and it will be good to see how we match up with those other schools.”

 Jamie Cushman can be reached at [email protected].

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