SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.- The Ithaca College women's rowing team continued their weekend trip in Saratoga, New York following their Liberty League Championship win on Friday. The victory secured the team an automatic bid to the NCAA DIII Rowing Championship, later this month, in both the 1V and 2V categories.
The New York State Rowing Championships featured collegiate teams from across the state. This allowed the Bombers to see a broad variety of competition and face off against some new faces.
Ithaca took part in many categories with the first, second, and third varsity eights competing as well as a novice four. The Bombers also rolled out a coxed quad, a pair, and a double. Many of the events had initial heats with petite and grand finals later in the day.
The first race of the day featured the 1V. The top boat once again featured Carlie Wohlfahrt, Allison Arndt, Laura Trainor, Taylor Volmrich, Lily Babcock, Erin Trojan, Maggie Farber, Karley Whalen, and Devi de Oliveira.
The Bombers faced off against St. John Fisher, William Smith, Skidmore, Army, and Iona. Ithaca secured a first place finish ahead of Iona. The Bombers completed the course with a final time of 7:17.17.
Later in the day, in the grand final, the Bombers would take home first place with a final time of 7:28.84.
Next up would be the women's second and third varsity eights. The two boats were placed into separate heats. Ithaca's 2V lineup included Caroline Hoskins, Emma Anderson, Katrina Pohlman, Emma Hammel, Brenna Hanratty, Ashley Bailey, Samantha Gallagher, Erika Elcsisin, and Melanie Belmont. The 3V featured Zoe Kwasnicki, Chloe Croft, Nicole De La Mota, Zoe Paradis Stern, Kai Linke, Lauren Hitesman, Anna Capodilupo, Skylar Moresi, and Avery LaVergne.
The Bomber's 2V preliminary heat featured Skidmore, Hamilton, RIT, and Vassar. IC finished the course with a final time of 7:40.64 compared to Hamilton's time of 7:48.83.
Along with IC, the 3V's initial heat featured Iona, Hamilton, and William Smith. The finished with a final time of 8:04.13.
Later in the day, the 2V and 3V would race in the grand final. Overall, the 2V took home second place, falling just short to Hamilton by a margin of about three seconds. The 2V finished in 7:35.95. The 3V finished in fifth place and went 8:03.77.
Next up was the women's pair. This duo featured Laura Trainor and Devi de Oliveira. The two finished the course with a final time of 8:39.99 and took home first over the University of Rochester.
Following the pair would be the women's novice four. IC faced off against Iona and St. John Fisher. The Bombers lineup featured Emma Kelley, Lucy Hogan, Melanie Heim, Hope Oliveira, and Emma Thorne.
The four finished with a final course time of 8:53.51 and finished first compared to St. John Fisher who went 10:18.95.
The coxed quad raced next. This lineup consisted of Caroline Hoskins, Lily Babcock, Ashley Bailey, Lauren Hitesman, and Karley Whalen. Given the unique nature of this event, the Bombers only had one opponent and went head-to-head with Dominican. The Bomber's quad finished first with a final time of 8:37.38.
The last event of the day for the Bombers featured the double. This included Allison Arndt and Taylor Volmrich. The crew finished first ahead of the YellowJackets and completed the course in 8:30.42.
All in all, it was a great day for the Bombers as the team took down some new competition and won some good races. Ithaca finished the day with many first place finishes and a lot of new hardware.
The team will travel home to prepare for next weekend's race in Worcester, Massachusetts at the NIRC Championship. Races are scheduled for next Friday with action getting underway around 8 a.m.
