By Jamie Francis, Mercyhurst assistant coachBUFFALO, N.Y. – The Mercyhurst University rowing team traveled to Buffalo on Good Friday to race against Canisius College and came away with three wins: in the women's varsity four, the men's varsity eight, and the women's varsity eight. A women's second varsity eight also raced with Canisius coming out ahead of the Lakers.
The women's varsity four started things off with the Mercyhurst entry of
Allissa Porter,
Molly Harrald,
Alexandra Kleckner,
Kate Moran, and
Jessica Garver starting slightly behind Canisius over the first 250 meters of the race. The Lakers, however, pushed ahead of the Griffs by the 500-meter mark and cruised to a victory over their Division I competitors by 35 seconds.
The women's varsity eight followed with a similar start to the four, needing to come from behind in order to win. The crew of
Breellen Plucknett,
Kristine Wright,
Alexis Theuret,
Hanna Schumacher,
Leyla Dombrowski,
Maggie Switzer,
Kate Castonguay,
Elizabeth Hook, and
Mairead Manke were able to push ahead of Canisius to win by six seconds.
The women's second varsity eight went to Canisius, with the Griffs leading from start to finish over the course of the race. Hot-seating into this eight was Harrald, Kleckner, and Moran who were joined by
Susan Baltes,
Erin Burns,
Kelsey Riggs,
Taylor Rider,
Arden Gill, and
Ashlyn Shaffer. Although the Lakers put up a good effort at the start of the race, Canisius was able to win by 22 seconds.
The lightweight men also made the trip to Buffalo to race the heavyweight crews from Canisius and the University of Buffalo. The crew of
Brian Comey,
Xavier Alexander,
Milos Veres,
Robert Long,
Zack Pappas,
Amel Younis,
Nicholas Wnek,
Gary Loo, and
Sam Rouse fought for the lead in the first 250 meters, and then led the race through the finish line, ultimately winning by nine seconds.
"After a couple of disappointing losses at the Knecht Cup, the eights responded well today. We needed and expected a stronger showing and I felt we got that today," said Mercyhurst head coach
Adrian Spracklen. "Creating positive momentum was important leading into the final regular season race next weekend and I am optimistic this will spur us on."
The Lakers will travel to Ann Arbor, Michigan for that last regular season regatta - the Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Rowing Association (MACRA) championship regatta. In the meantime, follow both teams on Twitter @HurstRowing.
