PITTSBURGH, PA ­ The University at Buffalo opened the crew season with Saturday's Head of the Ohio Regatta in Pittsburgh. UB got strong performances from all four of its entries with the Varsity 8 winning its race and the Novice 4 crew finishing second in its race by a slim margin.

Victoria Kolomiets

The Varsity 8 team of Victoria Kolomiets (Guilderland, NY/Guilderland), Tara Celestini (St. Catharines, ON/Sir Winston Churchill), Kasey Hansen (Honeoye Falls, NY/Honeoye Falls-Lima), Deanna Knighton (Angola, NY/Lake Shore), Kali Spoto (Pittsford, NY/Pittsford-Sutherland), Mary Conniff (Camden, NY/Camden), Tracy Clarke (Mt. Sinai, NY/Rockford (MI)), Sara Sheffer (Ft. Edward, NY/Colonie) and coxswain Tara LaFountain (Scotia, NY/Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake) easily won its race with a time of 15:47.2, besting such other varsity programs as Michigan State, Pittsburgh and Ohio University. The Bulls' time was 31 seconds faster than the second-place team from the Capital Rowing Club. There were 21 entries in the Varsity 8 race.

UB's Novice 4 team of Jessica Ecke (Brookhaven, NY/Longwood), Kolomiets, Caitlin Logue (Buffalo, NY/Nardin Academy), Katherine Jones (Clarence, NY/Clarence) and coxswain Katie Johnson (Kenmore, NY/Holy Angels) narrowly missed the Bulls' second title of the day. The squad turned in a time of 17:58.8, just 1.3 seconds behind first-place Penn State in the 15-team field that included a pair of squads from Mid-American Conference foe Miami and top Buffalo high school programs, Holy Angels and Nardin Academies.

Two other UB entries also fared well. The Novice 8 team raced to a sixth-place finish in its race in 16:59.0 among 24 entries, 1:09.8 seconds behind the first-place St. Catharines Rowing Club. UB's Varsity 4 squad finished seventh in a 32-team field in 18:25.6. Notre Dame won the race in 17:28.7.

The Bulls are in home waters this Saturday for the Head of the Niagara Regatta at Buffalo's West Side Rowing Club. UB's first boat hits the water at 10:30 am.