LAWRENCE, MA – The Merrimack College Women's Crew team hosted the UMass Lowell Riverhawks in the Merrimack Regatta on Sunday afternoon in Lawrence, Mass. This was our first time hosting a varsity race event and first championship season race event as a varsity crew.  

The first event of the day was the Varsity 4+ race as the Warriors boat consisted of Coxswain Karissa Finnigan (Medford, Mass.), Stroke seat Aubrey O'Neill (Pawcatuck, CT), 3 seat Kaylee McKenna (Georgetown, Texas), 2 seat Tamara O'Donnell (Billerica, Mass.) and bow seat Lydia Staschke (Guilford, CT). UMass Lowell raced in lane one while the Warriors were in lane two. Both boats got off the line well and settled into race rhythm at about 33 beats per minute with Lowell edging out to an early lead in the first 500 meters but the Warriors were able to row stroke for stroke with them through the body of the race.  Heading into the final 500 meters Lowell held on to the lead with a few seats of open water separating the crews.  Merrimack charged hard in the final 300 meters to narrow the gap and cut the eventual winning margin of Lowell down to five seconds.

"Karissa (Finnigan) really called a great finish to the race," said second year head coach Tim Desrosiers.  "I could hear her pushing the girls ahead and urging them to finish strong.  When she called the sprint I really saw the boat pick up and it looked like we were going to be able to move up a bit on Lowell.  It was a really gutsy finish against and experienced Lowell crew and I am very happy with our first row of the season."

The second race of the day for the Warriors saw four freshmen competing as the Coxswain was once again Finnigan, Stroke seat O'Neill, 3 seat Staschke, 2 seat Norina Reda (Dedham, Mass.) and bow seat Mara Payne (Sandwich, Mass.).  Both crews had a fast start and the racing was fairly even through the first 500 meters.  The Warriors however picked up the pace after the first 500 and never looked back, extending its winning margin to almost 22 seconds.

"Norina really had a solid race for us," stated Desrosiers. "She didn't get to compete this past fall so this was her first collegiate race. Norina is a true novice, meaning that she did not row in high school and picked rowing up just this past fall.  It's really impressive for her to come lay down a great race in her first crack at it and I am very happy that the girls were able to win that race."