Franklin Pierce Races Ohio State 
in First Action of Spring
Ravens post good times in first day on water this spring  

LAKE LURE, N.C. (March 20, 2006) – With Pearly Pond still thawing out from a cold winter, the Franklin Pierce rowing teams traveled to Lake Lure to open its on-water training in preparation for the spring sprint season. The Ravens raced against the club rowing team from The Ohio State University in their first day on the water on Sunday.

            Franklin Pierce’s women’s varsity eight posted an impressive time of 7:58.70, just off the pace set by OSU’s A and B boats, which posted times of 7:29.70 and 7:49.10, respectively. Rowing for the Ravens was sophomore Blair Granum (Worcester, Mass./Doherty) at stroke, junior Meagan Gross (Vestal, N.Y./Vestal) in the seven seat, junior Elizabeth Ward (Washingtonville, N.Y./Washingtonville) in the six seat, sophomore Gwenn Curtis (Falls Village, Conn./Housatonic Valley) in the five seat, junior Lauren Bibby (Glastonbury, Conn./Glastonbury) in the four seat, freshman Cassie Ela (Lancaster, Mass./Nashoba Regional) in the three seat, sophomore Brittany Bonesteel (Kingstown, N.Y./Kingstown) in the two seat and freshman Amy Dixon (Falls Church, Australia) in the bow with freshman Vanessa Leon (Lenox, Mass./Lenox) as the coxswain.

            The Ravens men’s varsity eight registered a time of 7:34.50 to finish behind the Buckeye’s A and B boats, which posted times of 6:28.07 and 6:44.30, respectively. Rowing for Franklin Pierce were junior Justin Watson (Middletown, Conn./Middletown) at stroke, sophomore Tom Merkt (Enfield, Conn./Enfield) at seven seat, senior Rich Connell (Billerica, Mass./Billerica Memorial) in the six seat, sophomore Bill Eroh (Meridan, Conn./Lyman Hall) in the five seat, freshman John Spence (West Palm Beach, Fla./Suncoast) in the four seat, freshman Chris Conwell (Bradford, Mass./Haverhill) in the three seat, freshman Josh Marker (Lockport, N.Y./St. Joseph’s Collegiate Institute) in the two seat and junior Nate Horowitz (Kingstown, N.Y./Kingstown) in the bow with freshman Josh Lipinski (Jaffrey, N.H./Conant) as the coxswain.

            Another bright spot on the day was Franklin Pierce’s women’s novice four, which defeated an Ohio State four in a head-to-head race, posting a time of 9:15.08. OSU’s boat completed the course in 9:25.50. Rowing for the Ravens was Cassie Ela at stroke, freshman Christi Farina (Lindenhurst, N.Y./Cultural Arts Center) in the three seat, Dixon in the two seat and freshman Kayleigh Geyer (Carmel, N.Y./Mahopac) at bow with sophomore Katie Bogaard (Hubbardston, Mass./Quabbin Regional) as the coxswain..

            Franklin Pierce will train over the next three days before squaring off with Ohio State again on Thursday morning.