Virginia Rowing Successful At Princeton Chase

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CHARLOTTESVILLE – The Virginia rowing team competed at the Princeton Chase on Sunday, entering five boats in the Varsity Eight race and one in the Novice Eight race.

UVa’s Varsity Eight ‘A’ (coxswain Sidney Thorsten, Jennifer Cromwell, Helen Tompkins, Desiree Burns, Katrin Reinert, Lauren Hutchins, Lauren Shook, Nora Phillips and Summers Nelson) finished second behind Yale with a time of 14:48.479. The Bulldogs won the race with a time of 14:46.323 and Princeton was third with a time of 15:02.822.

Last weekend (Oct. 17-18) at the Head of the Charles regatta, UVa was nearly 17 seconds behind Yale in the Championship Eight race. This week at Princeton, the Cavaliers were a mere two seconds behind. Virginia ‘B’ finished in fifth place (15:33.060). The Virginia ‘B’ boat was coxswain Sarah Pichardo, Claudia Blandford, Marie Long, Cara Linnenkohl, Martha Kuzzy, Christine Roper, Inge Janssen, Kristine O’Brien and Betsy Nilan.

“It was a great race,” Virginia head coach Kevin Sauer said. “They closed the gap on Yale significantly from last week and it was a really, really great effort.”

Virginia had three other entries in the Varsity Eight race, which had a grand total of 54 entries. Virginia ‘C’ (coxswain Molly Frear, Caroline Sweeny, Hunter Terry, Erin Hawes, Sarah Borchelt, Keziah Beall, Jenny Shultis, Susie Chalker, Marelle Myers) finished 17th (16:00.057).

Virginia ‘D’ (coxswain Sarah Shanfield, Ruth Retzinger, Lieve Pitts, Pamela Baylor, MacKenzie Leahy, Chelsea Simpson, Francesca Lauritano, Morgan Joseph, Megan Hooley) finished 24th (16:20.688).

Virginia ‘E’ (coxswain Miriam Kaplan, Hannah Jenkins, Elspeth Missel, Elizabeth Webb, Reva Geier, Jenn Lampen, Liza Tullis, Katherine Stewart, Colleen Bauk) finished 37th (16:45.138).

“This was the first race of the fall for a number of girls,” associate head coach Steve Pritzker said. “It was good to see that we can compete with some of the best teams in the country.”

Virginia’s novices (coxswain Erin Friedlander, Erin Metcalf, Taylor Levine, Scotia Stein, Susanne Grainger, Ann Reid, Allison Lyons, Jenny Tomlinson, Ainsley Landster) finished third in their race with a time of 16:26.02. The top two finishers were Princeton (16:13.9) and Columbia (16:25.7).

“This was the first time down the race course for some of the novices and I think they did a great job,” novices coach Sarah Cannon said. “Our coxswain steered a great race and for our team to do as well as we did was a great way to start the season.”

Virginia concludes the fall portion of its schedule with the Rivanna Romp on Sunday, Nov. 15.