The Massachusetts women’s rowing team strung together impressive performances in last weekend’s Knecht Cup in Camden, N.J., which stacked the Minutewomen against competition from across the nation.
Five varsity boats made it to the finals of their respective events, including one junior varsity boat, as UMass faced off against the likes of Duke, Pittsburgh, Drexel, North Carolina and many other schools from around the country. The Minutewomen have one more meet before preparing for the Atlantic 10 Championships on May 5.
The squad’s varsity four boat continued its stellar season after winning its respective heat and semifinal race, grabbing a spot in the grand final. However, Kansas proved to be too much for UMass, finishing 8.12 seconds behind the Jayhawks to grab second out of the six teams that qualified for the final.
Prior to the final, the varsity four boat — consisting of freshman coxswain Isabel Feldman, Arielle Gillette, Hannah Monahan, Emily Sgarlet and Adrienne Breef-Pilz — had been undefeated before their perfect stretch was snapped. Despite the boat’s loss, sophomore Emily Hajjar feels the loss will only make the group better.
“This break in the record, although disappointing, was something that can only make them stronger and help them prepare for the A-10 championship,” said Hajjar in an email interview.
The Minutewomen had two pair boats finish in the top two spots of their final, with the UMass B boat of Kendall Bennett and Michaela Streitfield crossing the finish line in 8:12.60; 15.21 seconds before the UMass A boat of Kaitlin MacKenzie and Angela Stigliano.
Meanwhile, the lightweight four boat finished in sixth place out of six teams in its final race with a time of 8:26.39, matching up against top recruiting schools, Buffalo and Princeton. The Minutewomen finished in fourth in its heat to qualify for the finals, beating The College of New Jersey and the Tigers in the process.
Hajjar says that its lightweight team — consisting primarily of first-year rowers along with first-year assistant coach Andrea Morand — has made major strides against some stiff competition.
“These rowers are doing so well for just starting the sport and being able to keep up with the other varsity crews,” said Hajjar.
The varsity eight boat finished fifth with a time of 6:50.03, just 9.98 seconds shy of the Holy Cross’ winning boat.
Rounding out UMass’ final-qualifying boats is the varsity quad of Sgarlet, Nicoline Lomas, Megan Rodgers and Katelyn Allocco, who finished in between a pair of Boston College boats to grab second place with a time of 7:49.57.
Next up for the Minutewomen is a day-long meet in Buffalo on Saturday.
Stephen Sellner can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @MDC_Sellner.
