WOMEN'S ROWING

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WHITNEY POINT, NY ­ The University at Buffalo crew teams reached the finals in four of their five races, winning one and placing second in three to post a strong finish at the New York State Championships Sunday at Whitney Point. UB's novice four team won its race while the novice eight and first and second varsity eight crews placed second in the championship races after winning individual heats.

UB's novice four squad of bow seat Michelle Heller (Fresh Meadows, NY/Benjamin Cardozo), second seat Georgia Maloney (Cortland, NY/Cortland), third seat Maggie Cote (Grosse Ile, MI/Grosse Ile), stroke seat Emilee Norris (Cheektowaga, NY/Cheektowaga) and coxswain Kaitlin Buchheit (Amherst, NY/Amherst) won the championship race in 8:17.1. The boat moved into the finals thanks to its first-place clocking of 8:15.7 in the qualifying heats. UB also fielded a second boat in the novice four division. The team of bow seat Kaitlen Bender (Hamburg, NY/Frontier), second seat Jen Livingston (Eden, NY/Eden), third seat Rachel Simson (Hamburg, NY/Frontier), stroke seat Katie Jones (Clarence, NY/Clarence) and coxswain Bethany Bruce (Fulton, NY/C.W. Baker) placed third in its heat in 8:42.3, eighth-fastest of the preliminaries. Only six boats moved on to the finals.

The varsity eight boats also made strong showings. The A boat of bow seat Jessica Ecke (Ridge, NY/Longwood), second seat Tracy Clarke (Mt. Sinai, NY/Rockford (MI)), third seat Victoria Kolomiets (Guilderland, NY/Guilderland), fourth seat Kathleen Dorn (Newark, NY/Newark), fifth seat Deanna Knighton (Angola, NY/Lake Shore), sixth seat Kali Spoto (Pittsford, NY/Pittsford-Sutherland), seventh seat Tara Celestini (St. Catharines, Ontario/Sir Winston Churchill), stroke seat Kasey Hansen (Honeoye Falls, NY/Honeoye Falls-Lima) and coxswain Tina LaFountain (Scotia, NY/Burnt Hills) won its heat in 6:54.7, the fastest among the 15 entrants. The team then moved to the Grand Finals where it finished second in 7:11.8, just two-tenths of a second behind Fordham (7:11.6). The Bulls improved on the margin by which they finished behind the first-place Rams. Fordham took first place at the Knecht Cup three weeks earlier beating the Bulls by 10 seconds.

The second varsity team, UB's B boat, turned in a 7:07.12 clocking, winning its heat and placing second in the preliminaries behind Ithaca (7:03.7). In the Grand Final, the Bulls, comprised of bow seat Margaret Siller (Buffalo, NY/Hutch-Tech), second seat Caitlin Logue (Buffalo, NY/Nardin Academy), third seat Amy Aldridge (Penfield, NY/Penfield), fourth seat Jessica Barrell (Buffalo, NY/Nardin Academy), fifth seat Mary Conniff (Camden, NY/Camden), sixth seat Lauren Dunn (East Amherst, NY/Williamsville East), seventh seat Michelle Schwach (Buffalo, NY/Nardin Academy), stroke seat Sara Sheffer (Ft. Edward, NY/Colonie) and coxswain Katie Johnson (Kenmore, NY/Holy Angels), raced to a 7:16.1 showing, seven seconds behind first-place Ithaca (7:09.0).

UB's novice eight boat also raced to a first-place finish (7:10.17) in the heats and second-fastest overall, 10 seconds behind Ithaca. In the finals, the Bulls closed the gap on the Bombers, but still finished second in 7:12.8 to Ithaca's 7:12.0. The team consisted of Stephanie Spinella (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool), Karen Corey (Kingston, NY/Kingston), Bonnie McVicker (Syracuse, NY/C.W. Baker), Joanne Olsen (Niskayuna, NY/Niskayuna), Kat Vossler (Jamestown, NY/Falconer), Natalie Pugliese (Niagara Falls, Ontario/St. Paul's), Marla Hardin (Riverview, MI/Riverview), Chandra Hazey (Riverview, MI/Riverview) and coxswain Dawn Kavanaugh (Grand Island, NY/Nardin Academy).

The squads head to Camden, NJ to complete the 2003 season in the Mid-Atlantic Championships. The meet, to be held on Mother's Day (May 11), will be at the same venue, the Cooper River, as the Knecht Cup races that the Bulls competed at three weeks ago.