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Second Varsity Eight Wins Coleman D. Boyland Trophy

Maggie Fairgrieve

It is the third straight year in which Buffalo has clinched a Dad Vail championship, starting with the Novice Eight squad in 2005, and the Second Varsity Eight last year. Each of those squads were coached by assistant coach Andrew Wieler, and rowed in by juniors Margaret Devendorf (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool) and Maggie Fairgrieve (Fort Erie, Ont./Lake Shore Catholic).

The eight boat of coxswain Margaret Devendorf, eight-seat Tara Rudkoski (Merrick, NY/Calhoun), seven-seat Kelsey Tretter (Rochester, NY/Brighton), six-seat Morgan Witte (Baldwinsville, NY/C.W. Baker), five-seat Bridget Yannes (Edgewater Park, NJ/Holy Cross), four-seat Ashley Wodzinski (Lakeview, NY/Nardin Academy), three-seat Alana Sharpe (St. Catharines, Ont./Governor Simcoe), second-seat Maggie Fairgrieve, and bow-seat Cathleen Streicher (West Seneca, NY/Sacred Heart Academy) won all three races en route to the championship title. The Bulls were one of six teams to qualify for the finals in the field of 20, as UB was able to cross the finish one boat’s length ahead of Dayton in a time of 6:53.35.

Margaret Devendorf

Coming into the weekend’s regatta ranked eighth in the nation according to USRowing, the lightweight eight boat experienced a setback with Long Beach State and Ohio State each scoring better times in both the heat race and the finals. Ohio State edged Long Beach State in the finals by a four-second margin, 6:52.98. Consisting of coxswain Sarah McCann (Fayetteville, NY/Fayetteville-Manlius), eight-seat Katie Barnum (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa), seven-seat Diane Passenant (Lake Ronkonkoma, NY/Sachem North), six-seat Diane Minardo (Rochester, NY/Brighton), five-seat Beth Gaworecki (Baldwinsville, NY/C.W. Baker), four-seat Stevie Feig (Long Beach, NY/Long Beach), three-seat Darci Smith (Elma, NY/Iroquois), two-seat Andrea Patterson (Niagara Falls, NY/Niagara Falls), and bow-seat Maureen Jones (Irondequoit, NY/Irondequoit), UB came in third with a time of 7:03.29.

The Varsity Eight squad pulled a time of 6:55.99 in the heat race just behind Purdue’s 6:47.76, qualifying for the semifinal race the next day. The boat, consisting of coxswain Sher Briggs (St. Catharines, Ont./West Park), eight-seat Lauren Sexton (Niagara Falls, Ont./St. Paul), seven-seat Melina DiCosimo (Niagara Falls, Ont./St. Paul), six-seat Corinne Blum (Pittsford, NY/Pittsford-Sutherland), five-seat Amanda Garbacz (St. Catharines, Ont./Dennis Morris), four-seat Paige Baritot (Orchard Park, NY/Buffalo Seminary), three-seat Jessica Hughes (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool), two-seat Jackie Stone (Syracuse, NY/Nottingham), and bow-set Brittany Aiello (Lancaster, NY/Clarence) raced in a competitive semifinal heat with the likes of UMass and Ohio State, crossing the finish line third just seconds before the aforementioned teams. Unable to finish in the top two, the eight-boat settled for an appearance in the Petite Final. In that race, the Bulls took top honors, finishing ahead of Drake, Santa Barbara, Dayton, UConn, and Fordham for seventh place.