Marist Crew at Head of the Fish

Fall Race #2: Head of the Fish in Saratoga Springs, NY

Last weekend, our team traveled to Saratoga to race in Head of the Fish. It was our last weekend of fall racing and it was a big one. Our schedule had us at the Fish on Saturday and at the Fall Metro (a new race for our team on a 2k course in New Rochelle) on Sunday. Since all the varsity girls and some of the freshmen were racing multiple events each day, we went into it prepared for a lot of racing in a short amount of time.

Head of the Fish Course (courtesy of Saratoga Rowing Association)

We arrived in Saratoga around 8:30 am to windy and very cold conditions. For the women, the first races of the day were the varsity 8+s. The 1v8 raced the same line-up we had the previous weekend in our still unnamed new boat. The 2v8 raced a line-up they had never rowed before, composed of a senior, two juniors, a sophomore and four freshmen. 

1v8

 

Despite having a strong race in Delaware, our eight did not have a good race at the Fish. The Fish is a little bit shorter course than Delaware (3.7k vs. 4k) and it is a lot straighter. We were also racing in a field of 17 rather than 7. All of these factors meant that we needed to be aggressive right from the beginning and row at 32 spm to be competitive.  We ended up racing at 30 spm, which just wasn’t enough to hang with a stronger field. I think another contributing factor was the fragmented practice we had the Friday before the race.  I think that one of the reasons last spring’s 1v8 raced well (in the few races Mother Nature allowed us to have) is because we had been rowing together for a long time and we worked well with each other. I believe a team builds a certain kind of cohesion after going through years of training. I think our eight is still in the process of figuring each other out, as is expected with a transitioning team. As much as it was upsetting to have a disappointing race, I think it was a good learning experience. Now we know we have to work on keeping higher rates, and we have all of winter training to get stronger, tougher and become more of a team. I am very excited to see what we can do in the spring once we iron out the kinks.

2v8

The fours had much better races in a bigger field (28 boats). My four had the same lineup as Delaware but the 2v4 was composed of the stern 4 of the 1v8 and the 3v4 was composed of the upperclassmen from the 2v8. The 3^rd four had a good race, considering this was another line-up that had never practiced together. The 2v4 felt that they raced better than they had practiced, despite a broken cox box. My co-captain, Maggie, sat in bow seat and “coxed” the race. They placed 7^th, showing that they were not about to let adversity stop them from having a good race. 

My four had a great race. It was probably one of the best races I’ve had in my entire life. From the beginning, everything just seemed to go well. We built confidence early on by passing the boat in front of us and carried that mentality throughout the entire race. We kept the rate at 31 spm and just cranked on it the entire time. I was in flow state almost the entire time, which rarely happens to me in sweep races. I felt totally focused and in control. The only thing that made the race less than perfect was the last ten strokes. We got cut off going into the finish and our coxswain had to hit the rudder hard to avoid ramming them. But other than that it was a fabulous race and we placed 2^nd. 

Silver medals!

 Both freshmen 8+s did a great job too. They raced in their same line-ups from the previous weekend, something that I think contributed to their success. When I was a freshman, we didn’t have enough people to have a set lineup, which doesn’t allow the boat as a whole to learn from mistakes and get better together. These freshmen are also ambitious and competitive, whether they have rowing experience or not. The 1F placed first, snagging the coveted Fish Head trophy (yes, it’s a real fish) and the 2F placed 10^th, beating a bunch of first freshman crews. 

The actual Head of the Fish!

 We got on the bus to find out that Fall Metro had been canceled, due to the freak fall snowstorm. Although it was very disappointing to have yet ANOTHER race canceled (totaling half of our fall season and the fifth canceled race in 2011), I think we ended on a good note. Our eight race might not have been what we wanted, but we came back in the fours to end the day strong. The freshmen had another solid racing experience with great results.We got in a great day of racing before the snowstorm hit and then we got to go home and play in the eight inches of snow that fell while we were away. 

Post Race Snowsurfing

Marist’s coverage of the Head of the Fish can be found here.

Row2k results can be found here. 

Lineups 

1v8 cox: J Guzzardi 8: F. Siclovan 7. M. Kolb 6: T. Fillipini 5: M. Ladouceur 4: T. Mather 3: A. Carafas 2: J. DeLisle 1: K. Butta 2v8 cox: Z. Christopher 8: A. Devorak 7: S. Moriarty 6: K. Wilson 5: S. LaRose 4. M. Banks 3. E. Waskiewicz 2: M. Soprano 1: N. Washburn	1F8 cox: S. Cillo 8: A. Devorak 7: S. Moriarty 6: M. Romer 5: S. LaRose 4: K. Wilson 3: S. Blau 2: T. Mullaney 1: A. Khoury 2F8 cox: K. Perkins 8: B. Logue 7:  L. Hehir 6: K. Melendez 5: N. Culhane 4: K. Orzech 3: M. Perry 2: N. Washburn 1: K. Mahoney
1v4 cox: B. Rodriguez 4: T. Mather 3: A. Carafas 2: J. DeLisle 1: K. Butta	2v4 cox: Zoe Christopher 4: F. Siclovan 3: M. Ladouceur 2: T. Fillipini 1: M. Kolb	3v4 cox: J. Guzzardi 4: M. Banks 3: E. Waskiewicz 2: M. Soprano 1: N. Washburn

Head of the Ch....er....Marist Women's Crew goes to Delaware

 Fall Race #1: Marist vs. Temple, Delaware and LaSalle at Delaware

Marist Women's Crew

The first race of our season was originally not supposed to be our first race. The Poughkeepsie Regatta, scheduled for Oct. 1^st, was cancelled and we had to wait three weeks to race for the first time. This was a new race for Marist, as all the crews invited had not been picked to race in the Head of the Charles. Although our team was depressed to not make the time-honored trip to Boston, I think that the racing that happened instead was worth making the trip south.

We left school at 11am and made it to Delaware to rig and practice on the course. The river that Delaware rows on reminded me of my home course on the Passaic River with lots of bridges and multiple turns on a narrow river set in an industrial area. Personally, I like courses like this because lots of landmarks make a race go by faster. Our coxswains are very aggressive and good at steering, which makes 100% of a difference on that kind of course. The varsity 8+ and both freshmen eights were able to practice on the course before heading to the hotel to shower and eat.

The next day, the team left the hotel at 7:45am to get to the course. The race schedule was as follows:

9:50 varsity 8+

10:10 varsity 4+

10:30 freshman 8+

11:45 varsity 8+ round 2

noon varsity 4+

12:15 freshman 4+

*bold races had Marist boats

Varsity 8+

Because our boat had only three rowers returning from last year’s first varsity eight and three sophomores with very little racing experience due to the ridiculous number of race cancellations in 2011, I went into this race apprehensively. In all of rowing, I feel like it is hard to go into a race in a boat with people you have never raced with before because you don’t know how people mentally handle racing situations. There are breakdowns even at the Olympic level. However, we had an advantage: we raced in a brand new boat filled with rowers who were hungry for a race. And it completely paid off. Our sophomores proved themselves to be focused and intense and I think our boat rowed better in the race than it had in all of our previous practices. We started out strong, and had a fantastic middle move and a strong sprint. The steering was great and we definitely gained time on other crews because of it. We placed 2^nd to Delaware, beating Temple and LaSalle as well as the 2vs from the above schools. Overall, I think it was a great first varsity race for our sophomores and is hopefully a good indicator of a strong spring season.

Freshman 8+

Pre-race huddle by the 2F8

Marist had two boats in this race, one boat of six experienced rowers and two novices and then a boat of all novices, including the coxswain. I could not imagine tackling that course as a first race for an inexperienced coxswain and I think that Sam deserves the MVP award for the day for staying calm throughout the race. The 1F placed 2^nd by 7 seconds to Delaware and the 2F placed 5^th, great finishes for a first race of the season, especially versus a team with a home course advantage.

Varsity 4+

1V4+

Marist also had two boats in this race. Both boats had very strong races. As is typical with fall racing, my boat had practiced in our line-up once and the 2v4+ had never practiced in their line-up. Delaware started first, then the 1v4+ and the 2v4+. We began to walk through the Delaware boat in the first 500m, but needed to hold back due to a tight space under the second bridge of the course. We walked through them and had a great second 500m. Our middle move at the Delaware dock was probably the best 20 strokes I’ve taken all year. Our awesome freshmen cheering for us from the shore inspired our boat to take some great strokes. Jen, our coxswain, steered a fantastic course, as did the 2v4+ coxswain, Bree, whose boat I could see the entire time. 

2V4+

The 2v4+ also passed Delaware’s 4, a little before the halfway point. The only thing that would have made this race a little better would have been if Delaware, Temple and LaSalle had done what we did and rowed fours with rowers from the varsity eight. The field would have been more interesting, but it was a good race nonetheless.

Freshman 4+

Post race pictures

Marist entered one experienced freshman four in this race. From what I heard from the girls and their coxswain, they also had a great race. They placed 1^st in a field of three boats. They also had not rowed in their lineup prior to the race, but felt that they were able to match up really well during the warm-up. This allowed them to row well and put together a very solid race.

I really enjoyed this race. The course was different from what we usually race or practice on and the change of scenery was welcome. It was a relaxed racing atmosphere, but efficiently run. From the perspective of introducing 17 freshmen to collegiate racing, it was perfect: no chaos, no angry officials, a pleasantly small venue (my standard for this is measured by the distance between the trailer, the dock and the food tent) and clean port-a-potties. The parents did a great job with the food tent (as always). The bus ride was a little long for a one day race but what promotes team bonding more than being stuck in small space with over thirty people? (Well, besides having a great day of racing.)

Lineups

1v8+ cox: Z. Christopher 8: F. Siclovan 7. M. Kolb 6: T. Fillipini 5: M. Ladouceur 4: T. Mather 3: A. Carafas 2: J. DeLisle 1: K. Butta	1F8+ cox: N. DeVito 8: A. Devorak 7: S. Moriarty 6: M. Romer 5: S. LaRose 4: K. Wilson 3: S. Blau 2: T. Mullaney 1: A. Khoury	2F8+ cox: S. Cillo 8: B. Logue 7:  L. Hehir 6: K. Melendez 5: N. Culhane 4: K. Orzech 3: M. Perry 2: N. Washburn 1: K. Mahoney
1v4+ cox: J. Guzzardi 4: T. Mather 3: A. Carafas 2: J. DeLisle 1: K. Butta	2v4+ cox: B. Rodriguez 4: F. Siclovan 3: M. Kolb 2: M. Banks 1: E. Waskiewicz	1F4+ cox: Z. Christopher 4: A. Devorak 3: S. LaRose 2: K. Wilson 1: S. Moriarty

 Results can be found here. 

Thanks to all our parents, supporters and coaches! And also to the UDel crew team for putting together a great day of racing!