The women's varsity fours boat finished fourth in the Grand Finals

Franklin Pierce Competes at New England Fours
Women's Novice and Varsity Fours qualify for Grand Finals

LOWELL, MASS. (April 27, 2003) - The Franklin Pierce men's and women's crew teams, consisting of two novice boats and one varsity boat, competed in the New England Fours Championship Regatta on Saturday afternoon.

The women's novice boat, consisting of Emily Schwartz (Daly City, Calif./Westmoor), Sarah Walsh (Springfield, Mass./Cathedral), Catherine Jalbert (Naugatuck, Conn./Naugatuck), Megan Keson (Portsmouth, R.I./ Portsmouth) and Colleen Houseman (Shrewsbury, Mass./Schrewsbury) had a strong showing, qualifying for the Grand Finals. The women placed sixth overall behind Assumption, UMass Lowell, Springfield College and the Mass. Maritime Academy.

The women's varsity boat, consisting of Jennifer Wilson (East Lyme, Conn./East Lyme), Kate Chance (Winslow, N.J./Winslow Twp.), Alexis Ozimek (Chadds Ford, Pa./Unionville), Christine Morchauser (Utica, N.Y./Notre Dame) and Marybeth Houseman (Shrewsbury, Mass./Shrewsbury), also qualified for the Grand Finals, which proved to be one of the most exciting races of the afternoon. Although Franklin Pierce finished fourth, there was only a one second difference between the Ravens and the second place boat, belonging to Middlebury College.

The men's novice boat ran into some hard luck when in the qualifying heat, a steel foot support became dislodged, causing the men to compete with one less rower. As a result, the team fell behind and was unable to recover. The equipment troubles came after the 30-second equipment breakage limit; therefore, the team was unable to call for a restart.

Franklin Pierce will next travel to Worcester, Mass. for the New England Rowing Championships on May 3rd.