Crew Team Topples UVM With Four Wins

Author: Ashley Elpern

It was a winning weekend for the Middlebury crew team at Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, Mass., with four first places between the women's teams and both men's teams turning in solid performances, just one week before the New England Four's Championship.

The varsity women showed the power and determination that has been present all season, as both the lightweight four of sophomores Susannah Cowden, Hope Steege, Becky Latka and Carolyn Gersh and the open eight dominated their competition with wins, as the two open fours garnered third and fourth in their race. "Every one of these 15 women invested a tremendous amount of effort into this weekend's racing," said Coach Alex Machi. "It isn't just pulling hard but being totally focused on the job of competing and totally together as a boat."

The eight, rowing in a brand-new lineup of Anne Thompson '02, Cowden, Lisa McAndrews '02, Taylor Bolz '04, Becky Sullivan '04, Maria Stern '02, Catherine Foster '05 and Emily Loesche '05, overcame the competition from the University of Vermont (UVM) and the University of Massachusetts at Lowell (UMass Lowell) without any practices before actual race. "It was great to beat UVM as they are our perennial rivals and we have struggled against them in the past," said McAndrews. She noted that although the open fours lost to UVM, all Middlebury rowers in the open four race had competed in the eight, but the UVM boat had fresh rowers, giving them an edge. Machi echoed these thoughts, deeming the fours' performances "really impressive" given the earlier race.

With the New England Four's Championship coming up this weekend, the open fours are currently seat racing to create the best lineups for the race, in what McAndrews calls "a very strenuous practice as each set is like a mini race," as the boat lineups are switched to find the fastest combination of rowers.

The women's novice team continued to shine, as the eight won its third victory in three races and the four won its first race of the season, and Machi has deemed them the "stars of the season." Racing against two UVM boats in the eight race, the novice women "had them from the start," according to Sara Hayes '05. "We thought they would be tougher," she commented.

The newly created four of first-years Hayes, Lauren Miller, Julie Stevens and Emily Berg raced later in the day, beating 2 boats from Assumption College as well as one from UVM and one from UMass Lowell. "We had no idea what to expect at first, but we were ahead from the start and only had to fend off one of the Assumption boats," said Hayes. "Our motivation allowed us to win, and it was great to hold off the rest of the boats."

Although the lightweight varsity men have had a tough season against open-weight rowers, the four of Brian Ambrette '02 and sophomores G.P. LeBourdais, Luke Mueller and Jeff Koppernolle came in right behind a powerful UVM squad and beat three other boats They also defeated the four from Franklin Pierce that eluded them two weeks ago, in what Machi called "a good omen for our season ending competition" in two weeks at the New England Championships.

Ambrette said that in the first 500 meters, all boats were neck and neck, but that by the halfway point UVM established its lead and Middlebury then overcame Franklin Pierce by over a boat length at the finish. "It was a really strong race, and we felt really smooth throughout," he commented.

The novice men's four of first-years Hans Manzke, Ian Tyree, Bryce Roche and Steve Venturi placed a second behind UMass Lowell, a boat that "came out of nowhere" according to Manzke. He said UVM had been the boat to beat, and they accomplished that by over six boat lengths but had not expected UMass Lowell to be such competition. "It was between us and UMass Lowell in a really intense race," Mazke said. "We had some tough breaks but had a really good last sprint and ended up losing by about a boat length."

Machi applauded the hard work of Tyree and Roche especially, who began rowing just this semester. "Considering how raw they are, it's amazing that they were out in front of both Assumption and a powerful UVM team," he said. As next weekend marks the end of their season, Manzke said the boat is looking to medal, as the only boats they have lost to have been Amherst College, Bowdoin College and UMass Lowell, and all by eight seconds or less. "We definitely have the ability to win if we race the best we can," he asserted.