Women's Rowing Finishes First Overall in the Women's Varsity 4+ Final Saturday
Links: Results
LOWELL, Mass. – The Merrimack College women's rowing team continues to compete with a purpose, as it finished in the top-two overall in the finals of three events at the UMass Lowell Invitational on Saturday in Lowell, Massachusetts. The Warriors totaled three first-place finishes throughout the event, with two of them coming in the preliminaries.
The Basics
Event: UMass Lowell Invitational
Location: Merrimack River | Lowell, Mass.
What They Said
Head Coach David LeFebvre: "It was a blustery day with a strong headwind making the times quite slow. This was a strong regional performance, top to bottom, and will help us in our quest to qualify for the NCAA Championships in Sacramento, California."
How It Happened
The Warriors posted a first-place finish out of six teams with a time of 8:01.6 in the finals of the Women's Varsity 4+ at the Merrimack River. The team cleared second-place Bowdoin by 4.2 seconds. The Navy and Gold relied on its exceptional lineup of sophomore coxswain Jess Khoury (Bay Shore, N.Y.), senior captain and stroke Aubrey O'Neill (Pawcatuck, Conn.), senior third seat Lydia Staschke (Guilford, Conn.), junior second seat Lauren Blazon (Lowell, Mass.) and sophomore Tasha Wypych (Wellington, New Zealand) on the bow.
The group also finished first overall with a time of 8:20.9 in the second heat during the preliminaries of the Varsity 4+. The time stood as the lowest in the entire preliminary round, which featured a total of nine teams between the two heats. The mark also cleared second-place Bowdoin by 48.3 seconds in the second heat.
The Warriors competed in the Women's Novice 4+ event, as the team turned to its lineup of sophomore coxswain Hillary Farrell (Jefferson, Mass.), junior stroke Amy Wengefeld (Old Saybrook, Conn.), freshman third seat Rebecca Cleary (Milford, N.H.), freshman second seat Emily Crowe (Ridgewood, N.J.) and freshman Ashley Augulewicz (Beverly, Mass.) on the bow. The group tallied a second-place finish in the finals, as it posted a time of 10:09.7.
The girls also finished first overall in the first heat during the preliminaries of the Novice 4+ event, as the squad recorded a time of 9:15.4. The time cleared the second-place UMass Lowell boat by 43.1 seconds. The time was the lowest by any team in the preliminary round, which included a total of eight teams between the two heats.
The Warriors also collected a second-place finish in the finals of the Division II Women's Varsity 8+ event, as the team recorded a time of 7:56.1. In this event, the Warriors were led by Khoury, O'Neill, Staschke (seventh seat), Wengefeld (sixth seat), junior fifth seat Megan Lacombe (Middletown, Conn.), Cleary (fourth seat), Blazon (third seat), Wypych (second seat) and senior captain Mara Payne (Sandwich, Mass.) on the bow. The group trailed first-place and fourth-ranked Mercyhurst by 15.6 seconds, while clearing third-place Franklin Pierce by 19.5 seconds.
Women's Varsity 4+ Final Results
1. Merrimack College 8:01.6
2. Bowdoin 8:05.8
3. UMass Lowell 8:13.2
4. Mercyhurst 8:23.8
5. Bryant 8:26.1
6. Endicott 9:32.8
Women's Novice 4+ Final Results
1. Bowdoin 9:06.3
2. Merrimack College 10:09.7
3. Amherst 10:29.5
4.Endicott 10:33.0
5. UMass Lowell 10:56.5
6. Bryant 11:39.5
Division II Women's Varsity 8+ Final Results
1. Mercyhurst 7:40.5
2. Merrimack College 7:56.1
3. Franklin Pierce 8:15.6
4. Assumption 8:19.6
Women's Varsity 4+ Preliminaries - Heat 2 Results
1. Merrimack College 8:20.9
2. Bowdoin 9:09.2
3. Endicott 9:41.9
4. Roger Williams 10:04.1
Women's Novice 4+ Preliminaries - Heat 1 Results
1. Merrimack College 9:15.4
2. UMass Lowell 9:58.5
3. Endicott 10:13.5
4. UNE 10:32.7
Up Next
The Warriors will compete in the Northeast-10 Conference Cup on Saturday, April 23, at Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, Massachusetts.
--
For continuing coverage of Merrimack College Athletics, visit MerrimackAthletics.com and follow the Warriors on Twitter and on Facebook.
