Franklin Pierce Women’s Rowing
Cruises Past Southern New Hampshire
WV8 and WV4 easily out-distance Penmen, MV4 places second to UMass Lowell

HOOKSETT, N.H. (April 24, 2006) – The Franklin Pierce women’s rowing team, ranked first in the NCAA Division II East Region, swept three races against Southern New Hampshire University, while the Ravens men’s varsity four placed second in a race with the University of Massachusetts Lowell on the Merrimack River this weekend.

            Franklin Pierce’s women’s varsity eight, ranked third in the East Region by the NCAA Championship committee last week, completed the 2000-meter course in 7:24.7, easily cruising past Southern New Hampshire’s Eight (8:34.1). Rowing for the Ravens were sophomore Blair Granum (Worcester, Mass./Doherty) at stroke, junior Elizabeth Ward (Washingtonville, N.Y./Washingtonville) in the two seat, freshman Brooke Oliverson (Westport, Conn./Hyde School) at three seat, sophomore Gwenn Curtis (Falls Village, Conn./Housatonic Valley) at four seat, junior Amanda Ege (Levittown, Pa./Harry S. Truman) at five seat, junior Lauren Bibby (Glastonbury, Conn./Glastonbury) at six seat, senior Alexis Ozimek (Chadds Ford, Pa./Unionville) in the seven seat and sophomore Brittany Bonesteel (Kingston, N.Y./Kingston) in the bow, with freshman Vanessa Leon (Lenox, Mass./Lenox) as the coxswain.

            Franklin Pierce’s women’s varsity four, ranked first in the East Region, posted a time of 8:22.9 in defeating Southern New Hampshire (9:33.4). Rowing for the Ravens were Granum at stroke, Ward in the two seat, Ege in the three seat and Bibby in the bow, with Leon as the coxswain.

            The men’s varsity four completed the 2000-meter course in 7:38.1 to finish second behind UMass Lowell (7:28.1). Rowing for the Ravens were sophomore Bill Eroh (Meridan, Conn./Lyman Hall) at stroke, senior Rich Connell (Billerica, Mass./Billerica) at two seat, sophomore Frank Seijas (Whittier, Calif./Whittier) at three seat and freshman Chris Conwell (Bradford, Mass./Haverhill) in the bow, with freshman Kayleigh Geyer (Carmel, N.Y./Mahopac) as the coxswain.

            The Franklin Pierce women are back on the water on Saturday for a key set of races against Dowling College and Mercyhurst College on Oakdale, N.Y. Dowling’s Eight is ranked first in the East Region, while Mercyhurst is second. The Raven men await the New England Championships May 6-7 in Worcester, Mass.