Franklin Pierce Men’s and Women’s Eights Compete at 42nd
Head of the Charles CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (October 26, 2006) – The Franklin Pierce men’s and women’s varsity eights continued to show improvement at the 42nd Head of the Charles Regatta last weekend. Franklin Pierce’s women’s varsity eight improved on their time and place from a year ago, completing the three-mile course in 18:13.721 to place 26th out of 57 crews in the collegiate eights event. The Ravens placed 27th overall last year with a time of 19:45.980. Yale University won the event with a time of 17:05.343, but Franklin Pierce placed ahead of crews from the University of Alabama (18:17.402), University of Rochester (18:20.961), Mount Holyoke College (18:32.432), the University of New Hampshire (18:35.431) and College of the Holy Cross (18:45.678). Rowing for the Ravens were senior Meagan Gross (Vestal, N.Y./Vestal) at stroke, freshman Nina Desimone (Newton, Mass./Newton) in the two-seat, senior Elizabeth Ward (Washingtonville, N.Y./Washingtonville) in the three-seat, sophomore Brooke Oliverson (Westport, Conn./Hyde School) at four-seat, junior Gwenn Curtis (Falls Village, Conn./Housatonic Valley) at five-seat, senior Amanda Ege (Levittown, Pa./Harry S. Truman) at six-seat, junior Kate Surgen (Westhampton, Mass./Hampshire Regional) in the seven-seat and sophomore Cassie Ela (Lancaster, Mass./Nashoba Regional) in the bow, with sophomore coxswain Vanessa Leon (Lenox, Mass./Lenox). “The women performed very well among other New England colleges, beating eights from UNH, WPI, Smith and Mount Holyoke, who last year were all faster than us,” said third-year head coach Doug Connelly. “Another treat was to see us finish only two places behind UC San Diego, who was a finalist in last year’s NCAA Division II Championships. This bodes well for us next spring, since I am sure we can close that 12-second gap.” Franklin Pierce’s men’s varsity eight made a successful debut at the Head of the Charles, completing the three-mile course in 16:54.076 to place 46th among the 58 crews in the men’s collegiate eights event. Rowing for the Ravens were sophomore Josh Marker (Lockport, N.Y./St. Joseph’s Collegiate Institute) at stroke, sophomore John Spence (West Palm Beach, Fla./Suncoast) in the two-seat, freshman Brett DiCresenzo (Westmont, N.J./Camden Catholic) in the three-seat, senior Rich Connell (Billerica, Mass./Billerica Memorial) at four-seat, junior William Eroh (Meridan, Conn./Lyman Hall) at five-seat, freshman Isaac Breton (Oakland, Maine/Messalonskee) at six-seat, freshman Ryan Schmitt (Harwington, Conn./The Gunnery School) in the seven-seat and senior Justin Watson (Middletown, Conn./Middletown) at bow, with freshman Jessica Ward (Arlington, Va./Washington-Lee) as the coxswain. The Western Rowing Club won the event with a time of 15:08.301, but Franklin Pierce finished just behind a crew from Boston College (16:53.203) and ahead of crews from the University of Vermont (16:55.184), Johns Hopkins University (16:55.215) and the University of New Hampshire (17:03.482). “The men had an outstanding race, their fastest pace so far,” said Connelly. “They have recently become competitive with some great New England programs, having a tight finish in the Charles with the top boats from UMass, Boston College, UVM and UConn, who we could not keep up with last year.” Franklin Pierce rounds out its fall season this weekend with two separate events. The Ravens will compete at the 21st annual Head of the Fish regatta on Saturday before battling the University of Massachusetts Lowell in a head-to-head meet on Sunday on the Merrimack River. |
