A major league baseball pitcher truly understands the meaning of home field advantage when he sits in the dugout in the bottom of the ninth inning. Hopes for an offensive explosion for his team run through his mind, and cheers of fans penetrate his insides.
Over Meliora Weekend, the women’s rowing team felt the same benefits of home river advantage at the Head of the Genesee, with the first varsity 8 snagging silver.
‘We rarely have home races, and we were really pumped to have our friends and family watch us race,” senior Alyssa Berkowitz said. ‘It was also the first time we were racing against these schools as a varsity team, and it was exciting to have that race at home and show them what UR crew is about.”
Senior Jackie Monaghan, senior Jaime Sorenson, sophomore Cathy Cebul, sophomore Katie Lantuh, sophomore Erin Partin, Berkowitz, senior Nicole Telleri, junior Katie Braun and junior coxswain Sarah Tannery made up the women’s first varsity 8 team.
In the morning three-mile race, the crew earned runner-up status, covering the course in just 17 minutes and 35 seconds.
The ‘Jackets held onto second place by showcasing a solid performance in the afternoon 1500-meter sprint.
The women’s second varsity 8 finished 10th, and the novice’s A team snatched bronze in the regatta.
The Yellowjackets hope to display similar success this weekend in Boston at the Head of the Charles, the world’s largest regatta.
Although, according to the women’s rowing head coach William Greene, the historic course contains some of the most challenging turns UR will face this season, the team will work hard to overcome this obstacle.
‘One of our goals for this season is to medal at Head of the Charles,” Berkowitz said. ‘We have faith that we can be in the mix with the other fast schools in our division. In order to do this, we need to get more length and really be able to flow as one unit, making sure our timing is impeccable, our power application is spot on and that we keep pushing with every ounce of energy we have until we hit the finish line.”
Kravitz is a member of the class of 2012.
