April 11, 2010

Two Boats Pick Up Titles At The Knecht Cup

CAMDEN, NJ – The University at Buffalo rowing team wrapped up a successful Knecht Cup with victories in the Second Varsity Eight and Second Varsity Four. In all, 41 Bulls picked up medals as the Varsity Eight and Novice Eight boat each finished second and the Lightweight Eight boat claimed third.

After finishing second last season, the Second Varsity Eight boat won this year's race finishing first in all three of its races this weekend. The boat of coxswain Kate Evely, Rosa Kemp, Dakota Smith, Lindsay DiCosimo, Alexandra Condon, Ashley Hanhurst, Shannon David,Jacklyn Postulka and Danielle Carlino finished the grand final in 6:46.61, winning the race over UMass by almost 10 seconds.

The Second Varsity Four boat of coxswain Britt Marshall, Francisca Strange, Rachel Cuthbert, Rebecca Rayter and Shenita McLean also won their grand final, clocking in at 7:55.21, finishing two seconds ahead of Fordham. The Second Varsity Four boat also finished the weekend undefeated as they won their only race yesterday.

UB picked up two second-place finishes as the Varsity Eight boat finished second in its grand final in 6:39.13, finishing less than five seconds behind first-place Duke. UB did defeat crews from Temple, Drexel, Rutgers and Boston College. Also finishing in second was the Novice Eight boat, which had won both of its races yesterday. The Novice Eight finished in 7:02.10, a little over 10 seconds behind first-place Wisconsin.

UB's Lightweight boat, which did not compete yesterday, finished in third place in its only race of the day, finishing in 7:08.28. The Bulls finished about seven seconds behind MIT, who is directly ahead of the Bulls in the national rankings. Winning the race was Wisconsin, who is ranked first in the country in the Lightweight polls, as it finished 13 seconds ahead of any other boat.

Also competing on Sunday was the Varsity Four boat, which finished sixth of six in the grand final and the Novice Four boat, which finished in fourth place in the petite final.

The Bulls will be home next weekend for their lone home race of the season. The Varsity program will host Eastern Michigan at the Tonawanda Creek at 9:00 am. The Lightweights head to Massachusetts as they will race MIT.