May 30, 2005
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Ithaca College became the first school to repeat as NCAA Division III Women’s Crew champions. The Bombers won their second straight title at the NCAA Championships at Lake Natoma, Calif.
Ithaca scored 10 points – tied with Smith for the lowest score at the championships, but the Bombers won the NCAA title by virtue of a higher finish in Saturday’s grand final.
The varsity 8 boat placed second in Saturday’s grand final; the second varsity 8 boat had placed third in the petite final. Both boats had raced in a heat Friday morning; the varsity 8 won its heat to qualify automatically for Saturday’s grand final. The second varsity 8 placed fourth in its seven-boat heat, then placed sixth in Friday evening’s repachage to earn a spot in the petite final. In Saturday’s grand final, Ithaca placed second; the Bombers overtook Smith’s varsity 8 boat for second place during the race’s second 500 meters. Trinity (Conn.) won the gold medal with a first-place finish.
The Bombers were making their seventh appearance in the NCAA Rowing Championships, which were first contested in 1997. That year Ithaca's entry -- a women's four -- placed 10th of 16 teams. A year later, Ithaca qualified a varsity eight for the national championship. That event was also held at Lake Lanier. In 2001 the Bombers competed at the NCAA Championships for the third time. In 2002 Ithaca competed in the NCAA's first Division III Rowing Championship (the previous national championship events had included schools from all three divisions) and the Bombers tied for third. The Bombers finished third again the following season before winning lthe 2004 national title. Ithaca is the only program to compete in all four NCAA Division III championship events.
Ithaca’s varsity 8 boat was made up of senior coxswain Bailey Frye, junior eighth seat Emma Flemer, senior seventh seat Robin McCann, junior sixth seat Stacey Bowen, senior fifth seat Jessica Selock, senior fourth seat Meghan Musnicki, junior third seat Stephanie Knabe, senior second seat Jacy McFall and junior bow Sarah Kuebler.
Ithaca’s second varsity 8 boat was made up of junior coxswain Melanie Pessin, junior eighth seat Colleen Good, sophomore seventh seat Jane Semiz, junior sixth seat Heather Luke, junior fifth seat Julianne Purfield, sophomore fourth seat Stephanie Edley, senior third seat Danielle Costa, junior second seat Marissa Spitz and junior bow Kaitlin Veninsky.
Team Scoring
| Place |
School |
V8 |
2V8 |
Total |
| 1. |
Ithaca |
2 |
8 |
10 |
| 2. |
Smith |
3 |
7 |
10 |
| 3. |
Trinity (Conn.) |
1 |
10 |
11 |
| 4. |
Puget Sound |
4 |
9 |
13 |
| 5. |
Williams |
5 |
11 |
16 |
| 6. |
Colby |
6 |
12 |
18 |
