Courtesy of UR Athletics
On Saturday, April 13, the women’s varsity crew team raced against Hamilton College and William Smith College in an away match held in Clinton, N.Y. The YellowJackets varsity one boat upset Hamilton with a time of 6:56.36 but were bested by William Smith with a time of 6:41.01.
“It was a good race,” sophomore Emily Widra said. “We beat Hamilton by a few seconds and lost to William Smith by about 20 seconds.”
The 1V boat consisted of the Yellowjackets’ nine fastest athletes; juniors Julia Evans, Rhiannon Vaughn, Monika Cepulis, sophomores Serra Sevenler, Emily Widra, Allie Born, Juliana Orlov, and freshmen Bella Clemente and Clare McMahon.
In the beginning of the race, William Smith took an early lead, however it was neck and neck between the YellowJackets and the Continentals from the very start. This lasted until the halfway point when UR began to pull away.
“We were even and trading seats with Hamilton until the 1,000m mark, then we took a middle move and took seats and opened water,” Widra said.
After this middle move, the LadyJackets stayed in front of Hamilton for the remainder of the race earning them a victory over 15th-ranked Hamilton despite a tough loss against third-ranked William Smith.
The LadyJackets’ second varsity eight competed in the closest race of the day, with a 13-second margin separating the first and third-place boats. This was the only race of the day that the Yellowjackets lost to Hamilton. Here, UR came in third with a time of 7:15.47, William Smith second with a time of 7:06.4, and Hamilton first with a time of 7:02.45.
In an impressive showing, this time put up by Hamilton 2V was faster than the time of 7:03.35 raced by Hamilton 1V earlier that day.
The YellowJackets’ novice eight boat had a similar outcome to the 1V boat. This boat consisted of all first-year rowers. Despite the lack of experience, these rowers also had an impressive showing.
The novice eight earned a sizable victory over Hamilton’s novice eight, a solid 13 seconds, but were defeated by the William Smith Novice eight by 10 seconds.
“I’m really proud of the way everyone raced this weekend,” sophomore Juliana Orlov said.
There was a significant change in line-ups, with some rowers racing in different boats for multiple races.
“We’re getting a little faster each week. I can’t wait to see what we can accomplish at states,” Orlov said.
The LadyJackets’ next varsity race will be the New York State Championships held on May 4 and 5 in Whitney Point, N.Y. This will be one of the last opportunities the YellowJackets have to prove themselves and earn a bid to the NCAAs.
Despite former head coach Will Greene recently leaving the program, the rowers are looking forward to finishing their season with a strong record as the team continues to develop.
Cozen is a member of the class of 2015.
