Huskies Compete at Knect Cup

CAMDEN, NJ (April 17) -- The University of Connecticut women’s Rowing team raced at the Knect Cup in Camden, NJ hosted by Villanova University on Saturday and Sunday mornings.

In the women’s varsity eight, 22 crews raced. Saturday morning, UConn placed third in their heat behind Villanova and Fordam, which was a strong enough finish to advance them to the semi-final in the afternoon. In the semifinal race, Connecticut needed to finish in the top three to make the final, and would race in the petite final with a four through six finish. The Huskies raced hard but came up three seconds short of third place behind Temple with UMass taking first and Buffalo was second. UConn defeated St. Joe’s University and Georgetown in the semi. In the petite final, UConn finished in sixth, placing them 12th in the overall event out of 22 crews. The line-up for the varsity eight was Abbey Off, Christina Cotter, Valerie Voorhees, Katie Devonshuk, Tina Spagnoli, Tracy Mulligan, Caroline Baker, Briana Blood, and Ursula Henwood.

In the junior varsity eight event, UConn raced Saturday morning and needed to finish in the top two to advance to the finals, places 3-4 would advance to the petite finals. UConn struggled down the course, not executing their race plan, and finished third. On Sunday in the petite final, they had a much stronger showing and finished first, two lengths of open water ahead of the rest of the field. The finish placed them seventh overall out of 15 crews. The line-up for the junior varsity eight was Liz Glomb, Alison Elmo, Niki DeCambra, Brooke Grauer, Stephanie Chivers, Heather Ferrick, Kristy Dahlstrom, Erin Bartie, and Jodi Hope.

Head Coach Jen Sanford-Wendry said, “I was very disappointed in the way the junior varsity raced Saturday. I feel that they are definitely a finals-speed crew and unfortunately they raced poorly on Saturday which kept them out of the finals. The goal on Sunday was to execute the race plan, win, and win by a lot. That is what they did. It was a very fun race to watch.”

In the varsity four event, UConn advanced out of their heat into the semi-finals, then qualified for the Sunday petite final. The team finished third in the semifinal, finishing ninth out of 20 crews. The line-up in the varsity four was Sam Bond, Jenn Rogers, Ashley Cruz, Heather Cannon, and Adrienne Cizik.

The women’s novice eight placed third in their heat, which was not fast enough to advance to the semifinal. There were 22 crews entered in that event. The second novice eight raced in a final only with seven crews, finished a strong second behind Boston College. The line-up for the first novice eight was Gabbey LaChance, Sarah Carlson, Kali Garges, Brooke Bierdeman, Bethany Caron, Nicole Rapp, Erin Anderson, Emily Pribanic, and Kristine Folkerts. The second novice eight line-up consisted of Cynthia Kwong, Amanda Beasley Murrray, Kailtlin Bresnahan, Kyle Hunchak, Jolanda Jones, Megan Madariaga, Kerri Mocko, Corinne Romberg, and Michelle Stathers.

UConn competes this Sunday at the Big East Challenge in Worcester, MA. Races begin at 7:30 AM.