WOMEN'S ROWING

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SARATOGA, NY ­ The University at Buffalo women's crew team scored three first-place finishes and a second-place showing in six events at the Head of the Fish Regatta, held over the weekend, at Saratoga's Fish Creek. UB boats were victorious in the open eight, lightweight four and novice four races while UB's open four entry finished second, six seconds behind the first-place squad. The quad four entry placed fifth and the UB novice eight team took seventh to round out the results.

Mary Conniff

In the open eight race, UB placed three crews near the top among the 41 entries. The B boat finished first in 13:04. The winning entry consisted of Dawn Kavanaugh (Grand Island, NY/Nardin Academy) at coxswain, stroke seat Emilee Norris (Cheektowaga, NY/Cheektowaga), seventh seat Kat Vossler (Jamestown, NY/Falconer), sixth seat Natalie Pugliese (Niagara Falls, Ontario/St. Paul's), fifth seat Chandra Hazey (Riverview, MI/Riverview), fourth seat Michelle Schwach (Buffalo, NY/Nardin Academy), third seat Karen Corey (Kingston, NY/Kingston), second seat Mary Conniff (Camden, NY/Camden) and bow seat Stephanie Spinella (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool). UB's A entry took fourth in 13:45 and the C entry was 11th in 14:04.

The Bulls cruised to an easy victory in the novice four race as the A boat finished in 15:43, 40 seconds ahead of second-place Springfield College (16:23). Coxswain of the team was Abbie Potts (Hamburg, NY/Hamburg) with Corrine Blum (Pittsford, NY/Pittsford Sutherland) in the stroke seat, Crysten Rushmore (Syracuse, NY/Nottingham) in the third seat, Kaitlin Hambridge (Amherst, NY/Holy Angels Academy) in the second seat and Kelly Botsoglou (Lancaster, NY/Nardin Academy) in the bow seat. UB's B entry was 10th in 17:31 and the C entry took 18th in 18:33 among 32 entries.

The lone UB entry in the lightweight four race also finished first among the 17 squads in 16:58, besting second-place Middlebury by 10 seconds. The UB shell consisted of coxswain Kaitlin Buchheit (Amherst, NY/Amherst), stroke seat Jessica Ecke (Ridge, NY/Longwood), third seat Corey, second seat Kassia Threlkeld (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa) and bow seat Katie Barnum (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa).

A second-place finish highlighted the open four race as the Bulls' A squad finished in 15:35, just six seconds off the pace set by Massachusetts (15:29). The boat was coxswained by Kavanaugh with Kasey Hansen (Honeoye Falls, NY/Honeoye Falls-Lima) in the stroke seat, Deanna Knighton (Angola, NY/Lake Shore) in the third seat, Conniff in the second seat and Tara Celestini (St. Catharines, Ontario/Sir Winston Churchill) occupying the bow seat. UB's B entry took fifth in 16:07. The C entry placed 22nd among the 55 crews in 17:05.

The quad racers took fifth in a field of 12 entrires which consisted mostly of club programs. UB and Massachusetts were the only Division I programs to field entries in the race. The Bulls finished in 15:39, four seconds ahead of the UMass A entry and nine seconds behind the Minutewomen's B entry, which placed third. A foursome representing Community Rowing took first in 14:12. Massachusetts is the eight-time defending Atlantic-10 rowing champion.

In the novice eight event, the Bulls' A crew placed seventh in 13:48 while the B squad was 22nd in 15:12 as 43 squads were entered in the field. The Argonaut Rowing Club took first in 12:21.

Up next for the Bulls is Philadelphia's Frostbite Regatta on November 8. The fall season concludes the following weekend as the varsity eight squad will compete at the Rivanna Romp, hosted by the University of Virginia.