SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - This weekend, the Bombers took to Saratoga Springs, NY for the Head of the Fish Regatta. Both  sculling and sweep teams brought full rosters, so the full squad was there to celebrate both our novice rowers' first race and our Scullers' final race of the season. The Head of the Fish is known for awarding decorated fish-head plaques to 1^st place finishers, with each event's trophy decorated in its own unique way. The day started out cold and warmed throughout the day with intermittent sun. A slight head wind picked up significant speed as the day went on.
 
The Scullers started the day strong with entries in the Collegiate 1x. Senior Sam Gallagher placed second in a time of 15:06.278. Calla Bobak, Kate March and Julia DiCostanzo came in 5^th ,6^th , and 9^th  place respectively, with Bobak edging out March by a mere 3 seconds.
 
Next up, Ithaca raced 3 entries in Collegiate 2x. Kai Lincke and Emmeline Robinson pushed their way down the course 6 seconds ahead of MIT to snag the 1^st place fish head in a time of 13:28.299.  The other Bomber duos of Hope Oliveira/ Anna Capodilupo and Alexandra Catlin/ Emma Thorne finished back to back in 6^th and 7^th respectively with times of 14:18.014 and 14:30.143.
 
The last sculling event contested was the Collegiate/Open 4x, where the Bombers faced not only collegiate rivals, but entries from clubs training beyond the college level.  Fighting a now-significant headwind, the quad of seniors Sam Gallagher, Emmeline Robinson, Kai Lincke and Emma Thorne held off a gaining Riverside boat until the very end. They finished 2^nd to that Riverside entry with a time of 13:04.175. Immediately following was the first of two coxed entries for the Bombers; (most entries in a 4x event do not use coxswains). Payton Fisch (cox), Julia DiCostanzo, Carys Owen, Hope Oliveira, Kate March crossed the line in 13:41.580, while Smeena Gill (cox), Alexandra Catlin, Melanie Heim, Calla Bobak, and Anna Capodilupo put up a time of 14:13.421, for an 8^th place finish.
 
After the lunch break, it was time for the sweep team to take on Fish Creek. The Women's Collegiate 8+ of Kaelyn Morandi (cox), Maisie Sagaas, Ava Connor, Emily Murphy, Lauren Huber, Katharine Sernick, Emma Rosenthal, Bryanna Mendoza Arias, and Sarah Chraibi finished 14^th in a field heavy with D1 competition (Cornell, Boston College, Colgate MIT, Marist…) in a time of 14:28.640.
 
Next up, Ithaca had two entries in the Collegiate Frosh/Novice 4+ category that showed up to give a sneak preview of the program's future speed. Cameron Silberman, Stella Kartsonas, Maeve Van Jura, Jasmina Vahle, and Naomi Bozenski navigated the course in 14:48.368 to sneak into a 3^rd place medal spot. Right behind, in 4^th place, was the other Ithaca entry of Sofia Bullrich, Christina Cox, Annoura Stewart, Julia Sweet, and Carly Hanlin. This crew – 4/5 of which are walk-on novices who only learned to row this fall – made their mark in a time of 15:30.102.
 
The Collegiate 4+ category held some of the toughest competition of the day. With many of the D1 programs entering multiple crews in the event, Bombers Kaelyn Morandi, Maisie Sagaas, Ava Connor, Emily Murphy, and Lauren Huber had an uphill climb, but raced well.  They finished with a time of 15:34.711, ahead of crews from Skidmore, Binghampton, Stony Brook, Clarkson and others.
 
The final race of the day for the women's team was the Collegiate Frosh/Novice 8+. The Bombers started at the back of the pack, but drove through the crowd to finish 6^th.  Their 13:31.478 placed them just behind 5^th place Smith in 5^th, who covered the course in 13:25.137.
 
It was a great day of racing for the Bombers with some podium finishes for both the sculling and sweep teams. The men also showed excellent results at the event & earned some fish heads to watch over our winter training from the boathouse walls.  You can read about the men's racing here, and results from all events can be viewed here.
 
The Bombers conclude the fall season at home on the Cayuga Inlet on November 1^st in the Cornell Autumn Classic. Rowing & Sculling squads will join forces for the first time this season to face Hamilton in 2 flights of head racing.