Rowing Has Successful Week Of Racing And Training

MIAMI, Fla. (March 16, 2008) -- The University of Connecticut women’s rowing team completed a week of training during in Florida with the UConn second varsity eight racing a 2000 meter race against the Barry University varsity eight on Saturday.

Barry won the piece with a time of 7:19, while UConn came in at 7:27.  Directly following the UConn/Barry match-up, the other Connecticut boats completed a time trial on the 2000 meter course.  The UConn varsity came in at 7:05, while the third varsity eight raced at 7:35 and the novice eight raced at 7:37.1.  In the second varsity race against the Barry varsity, the crews were racing against the tide and during the time trial the tide had changed and they were racing with the tide.

Racing for UConn in the second varsity eight were freshman Mollie Riester (Buffalo, N.Y.), freshman Gretchen Stern (Rexford, N.Y.), sophomore Lizzie Dargie (Waterford, Conn.), freshman Audrey Squire (Kinnelon, N.J.), freshman Julie Tibbetts (East Lyme, Conn.), sophomore Charisse Laughery (Columbia, Conn.), freshman Morfia Efthimiou (Stonington, Conn.), senior Ally Zoppa (East Hartford, Conn.) and junior Stephanie Bryant (Natick, Mass).

UConn raced the University of Rochester in the varsity eight, second varsity eight and novice eight on Friday, March 14. The teams did four two-minute pieces.  The UConn varsity eight took all four pieces from Rochester and consisted of senior Katie Beasley (Centerville, Mass.), junior Kathy Les (South Windsor, Conn.), senior Olga Solovova (New London, Conn.), senior Monica Parker (Glastonbury, Conn.), sophomore Sarah Willhoft (Manchester, Conn.), sophomore Jenny Reynolds (South Hero, Vt.), sophomore Katie Rauscher (Manchester, Conn.), sophomore Rebecca Likar (East Lyme, Conn.) and junior Heather Gates (Monmouth, N.J.).

The second varsity took three out of four pieces, losing the last piece by one seat. The novice eight was unable to beat Rochester in any of the four pieces. That boast was freshman Hailey Rosa (Mansfield, Conn.), sophomore Mikey Sevick (Simsbury, Conn.), freshman Robin Calhoun (Evanston, Ill.), freshman Tyler Pence (Vienna, Va.), sophomore Isabella Draper (Bridgeport, Conn.), freshman Amanda Cote (Wakefield, R.I.), freshman Brittany Koether (Orange, Conn.), freshman Brittany Weiss (New Milford, Conn.) and sophomore Amanda Travis (Madrid, N.Y.).

UConn went against the University of Miami in four minute pieces on Thursday, March 13.  The first two pieces were at a controlled rate, while the last two were at an open rate. The varsity eight won its race against the Hurricanes, but Miami then won the next three pieces

The second varsity eight was unable to beat Miami in any of the four pieces. That boat was comprised of Riester, Laughery, Dargie, Stern, Efthimiou, Zoppa, sophomore Kristen Beasley (Centerville, Mass.), sophomore Hayley Percy (Woodbridge, Conn.) and Bryant

The novice eight took three out of four pieces from the Hurricanes. That boat was comprised of Rosa, Sevick, Calhoun, Squire, sophomore Sylvia Czupi (Woodbridge, Conn.), sophomore Margaret Hoagland (Chaplin, Conn.), Tibbetts, Weiss and Travis.

 “I am happy with the work we accomplished this week,” said head coach Jennifer Sanford-Wendry. “I feel that we are at a point where we are going to continue to have a lot of improvement in speed with some more water time when we return to Connecticut. The level of rowing that we had in each practice really proved to me that this year’s winter training program was successful in preparing us for getting back on the water. We seem more fit for this time of year. “

The Huskies return to action on Sunday, March 30, when they race Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New Hampshire at the Yankee Cup in Kingston, R.I., with races starting at 8:20 a.m.