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Rowing Flashes Promising Results At Knecht Cup

Sarah McCann

Originally scheduled as a two-day event, bad weather forecasted for Sunday caused the entire regatta to be run on Saturday. The two boats that competed in the Grand Final, the Frosh/Novice Eight and Lightweight Eight, finished with exceptional top qualifying times, while the Second Varsity and Varsity Eight boats were eligible for the Petite Finals, which is the second batch of championship competition just one level below Grand.

The Frosh/Novice Eight crew finished in the top three after coming away with the second-best time out of a field of 27. Their preliminary heat adversary, Rhode Island, got the best of the eight-crew of coxswain Britt Marshall (North Tonawanda, NY/North Tonawanda), stroke-seat Kelsey Tretter (Rochester, NY/Brighton), seven-seat Stephanie Papaj (Kenmore, NY/Nardin Academy), six-seat Alana Sharpe (St. Catharines, Ontario/Governor Simcoe), five-seat Lauren Schifferle (East Aurora, NY/East Aurora), four-seat Francisca Nwoke (Rosedale, NY/Hillcrest), three-seat Emily Garvey (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool), two-seat Sam Masucci (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool), and bow-seat Kate Garofalo (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool), finishing one spot ahead in second place. Kansas were the big winners, finishing five seconds ahead of URI.

The eight boat of coxswain Sarah McCann (Fayetteville, NY/Fayetteville-Manlius) , stroke-seat Katie Barnum (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa) , seven-seat Diane Passanent (Lake Ronkonkoma, NY/Sachem North) , six-seat Diana Minardo (Rochester, NY/Webster) , five-seat Beth Gaworecki (Baldwinsville, NY/C.W. Baker) , four-seat Andrea Patterson (Niagara Falls, NY/Niagara Falls) , three-seat Maureen Jones (Irondequoit, NY/Irondequoit) , two-seat Lauryn Brown (Guilderland, NY/Guilderland) , and bow-seat Lisa Rossi (North Tonawanda, NY/North Tonawanda) started off the day in Heat 1. The heat time of 7:34.3 qualified the boat for an appearance in the finals for the second time in three years. However, the Bulls met up with familiar opponents in Wisconsin and Harvard Radcliffe B, who placed better times in the heat race. Wisconsin would go on to take top honors, 11 seconds better than runner-up Georgetown. Both Radcliffe boats would finish third and fourth, finally with UB placing fifth in 7:36.8.

The Second Varsity Eight boat scored top prize in the Petite Finals after competing against 15 other boats in the heat races. UB came out on top with a Petite Finals time of 7:15.5. Another UB boat that appeared in the Petite Finals was the Varsity Eight. With a field of 29 participants looking for a spot in the semifinals and, in turn the Grand Final, the Bulls only mustered a third-place finish in the Petite Finals behind UNC and Dayton. The eight-boat finished with a time of 7:07.8.

The Bulls return to action next weekend, where they will travel to Syracuse, NY for a quad-meet with Colate, UConn, and Eastern Michigan. Since both Eastern Michigan and Buffalo will compete against each other, both team’s Varsity Eight squads will compete for the annual Harvey Cup.