WOMEN'S ROWING

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Women's Rowing Strokes To Early Spring Success

Rudy Wieler

The team first ventured to Oakridge, TN on Tuesday to tussle against Louisville and Tulsa. The squads rowed well in the informal scrimmage, where only Cox 4 boats were raced. Louisville, who received 11 votes in the preseason USRowing/Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association NCAA Division I Varsity Eight Coaches Poll, will compete against UB again at the Knecht Cup in early April.

"After only three days on the water, the scrimmage was useful in the sense that it accelerated our race preparations," third-year head coach Rudy Wieler said. "We were competitive with Louisville and were ahead of Tulsa."

Margaret Devendorf

Three days later, UB prepared to take on New Hampshire and, for the second time, Tulsa. In the formal scrimmage where scoring was kept and in eights only, Buffalo came away with decisive wins in both the Varsity 8 and 2nd Varsity 8 races. With two boats competing, UB dominated by finishing 1-2 in both events, followed by New Hampshire and finally Tulsa. The winning boat in the Varsity 8 event, the UB2 boat consisting of coxswain Margaret Devendorf (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool), Chandra Hazey(Riverview, MI/Riverview), Bonnie McVicker (Syracuse, NY/C.W. Baker), Joanne Olsen (Niskayuna, NY/Niskayuna), Amanda Garbacz (St. Catharines, Ontario/Dennis Morris), Paige Baritot (Orchard Park, NY/Buffalo Seminary), Jessica Hughes (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool), Amanda Grates (Fredonia, NY/Fredonia), and Karen Corey (Kingston, NY/Kingston), completed the 1,500 meter race in a time of 5:01.90.

Coxswain Sher Briggs (St. Catharines, Ontario/West Park), Natalie Pugliese (Niagara Falls, Ontario/St. Paul), Melina DiCosimo (Niagara Falls, Ontario/St. Paul), Lauren Sexton (Niagara Falls, Ontario/St. Paul), Bridget Yannes (Edgewater Park, NJ/Holy Cross), Corinne Blum (Pittsford, NY/Pittsford-Sutherland), Jackie Stone(Syracuse, NY/Nottingham), and Emilee Norris(Cheektowaga, NY/Cheektowaga), won the 2nd Varsity 8 event in the UB1 boat in 5:03.1. The novice and lightweight boats also competed well, placing first and second ahead of New Hampshire's 3rd Varsity boat.

Sher Briggs

The squad completed its spring break voyage by visiting Morgantown, WV to compete against West Virginia in formal-scrimmage action. Both the UB1 or UB2 boats won all five pieces, and finished 1-2 in three of the five. The UB novice and lightweight boats were also in action, as the novice crew won all four pieces comfortably. The novice boat was rowed by coxswain Adriane Wotawa-Bergen (Ithaca, NY/Ithaca), Morgan Witte (Baldwinsville, NY/C.W. Baker), Amanda Mackeigan (Brockville, Ontario/Brockville), Kristen Lane (Buffalo, NY/Hutch Tech), Amy Eggleston (Ripley, NY/Ripley), Maren Greene (Ann Arbor, MI/Ann Arbor Community), Thandiwe Price (Springfield Gardens, NY/Frank Sinatra), Heidi Kenefick (Sauquoit, NY/Sauquoit), and Diane Passenant (Lake Ronkonkoma, NY/Sachem North).

Adriane Wotawa-Bergen

The UB lightweight crew battled back and forth in two of the four pieces competed in, cutting it close in every race with West Virginia. The lightweight crew consisted of coxswain Kaitlin Buchheit (Amherst, NY/Amherst), Katie Barnum (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa), Emily Clark (North Collins, NY/Lake Shore), Beth Gaworecki (Baldwinsville, NY/C.W. Baker), Sarah Billiar (Ramstein, Germany/Ramstein American), Diana Minardo (Webster, NY/Webster), Jennifer Delone (Rochester, NY/Rush-Henrietta), Stevie Feig (Long Beach, NY/Long Beach), and Jessica Buchheit (Amherst, NY/Amherst).

The 2006 UB rowing season kicks off April 8, when the team travels to Camden, New Jersey for the Knecht Cup.