Merrimack V4 Wins Again
WORCESTER, MA - The Merrimack College Women's crew team continued their debut Championship season as a varsity crew with another victory, this time over conference rival Assumption College on Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, Mass.
The first race of the day saw the Merrimack College Varsity 4+ pitted against two crews from Assumption College. Assumption fielded a varsity 4+ in lane 1 and a Novice 4+ in lane 3 while the Merrimack crew of Coxswain Karissa Finnigan (Medford, Mass.), Jessie Eichel (North Chelmsford, Mass.), Kaylee McKenna (Georgetown, Texas), Aubrey O'Neill (Pawcatuck, CT) and Lydia Staschke (Guilford, CT) raced in lane 2.
After a rough start the Warriors were able to inch away from the Assumption crews over the body of the race and hold on for a 9 second win with a time of 8:16.7. The Assumption Varsity 4 took second place with a time of 8:25.0. The novice crew from Assumption finished third at 8:56.7.
"It was very windy at the start and again in the 2nd 1000 meters," said head coach Tim Desrosiers. "We have had great race day conditions up until this weekend so this was a much needed experience for the team to have to deal with a tough cross wind. The girls felt that they didn't have a strong race today but still managed to pull out the victory which is very encouraging as we head into our Championship racing over the next three weeks."
After the Varsity 4 event, the Warriors 2nd varsity crew of Finnigan, O'Neill, Tamara O'Donnell (Billerica, Mass.), Norina Reda (Dedham, Mass.) and Mara Payne (Sandwich, Mass.) took to the water against three crews from Assumption. The Warriors 2V was able to beat both the Assumption 2V and the Assumption novice boat. The Greyhounds also raced their varsity 4+ again for their second race of the day, this time against the Merrimack 2V boat. The Warriors 2V finished 2nd in the field of 4 boats with a time of 8:49.4.
Merrimack will be back at Lake Quinsigamond for the NE-10 cup race Saturday, April 27 featuring crews from Merrimack, UML, Franklin Pierce, and Assumption.
