The University of Rhode Island women’s rowing team competed this weekend at the Doc Hosea Invitational in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, where the Rams collected multiple top-five finishes.
In Rhode Island’s first competition of the spring season, the team finished second in the heats of the First Varsity 8+ division, which was enough to advance to the Grand Final. URI beat out the Naval Academy for second place by just .04 seconds with a time of 6:42.39. Rutgers University was the first-place finisher in the First Varsity 8+ heats with a time of 6:29.33.
“In the race, you’re just pushing as hard as you can,” fourth-year Hailey Pardi said. “I had a lot of support from my teammates, and it came down to those final 10 seconds that make you nervous.”
The First Varsity 8+ boat consisted of fourth-year Ellie McGee at coxswain, Pardi in stroke seat, fourth-year Bella Bruno in seven seat, second-year Amanda Cubit in six seat, first-year Nora Lake in five spot, third-year Bethany Nordstrom in four seat, third-year Emma Barnhart in three seat, third-year Abigail Galayda in two seat and second-year Brigid McShea in bow seat.
The Second Varsity 8+ and First Varsity 4+ boats came in second place in their Petite Finals. The First Varsity 4+ finished with a time of 7:57.96, finishing behind Bucknell University, who got first with a time of 7:53.00. The second Varsity 8+ team for URI finished with a time of 6:58.05, behind Georgetown University, who came in first with a time of 6:53.17.
“It shows the depth of our team, the work they put in and the support they give each other,” Pardi said.
The Second Varsity 8+ boat was led by third-year Lily Stasaitis as the coxswain, third-year Jasmyn Hayes in stroke seat, third-year Emma Larsh in seven seat, third-year Irma Accius in six seat, third-year Emma Brookins in five seat, first-year Liz Mayer in four seat, first-year Sage Sabatino in three seat, second-year Maia Hembruff in two seat and second-year Anna Smith in the bow.
The Varsity 4+ team was led by third-year Evelyn Tabor as coxswain, second-year Maddy Papik in stroke seat, second-year Payton Klein in three seat, fourth-year Gabrielle Aloia in two seat and second-year Hailie Perkins in the bow.
The Rams will look to continue to improve and build off this week. The ultimate goal for the spring season is to win the Atlantic 10 Conference championship and go back-to-back, according to URI Head Coach Shelagh Donohoe.
“We have about a month and a half to increase our speed, which we will,” Donohoe said. “We have young rowers, and every week they’re going to get better.”
Rhode Island will get its first look at how its competitors have improved as it will face A-10 competition this week for the first time this season.
“We are seeing a lot of our top A-10 competitors [this week],” Donohoe said. “When we go out there and face teams like University of Massachusetts and George Washington University, we will get to see if we are faster or slower than them, and we will race to our fastest ability.”
After a strong start to the season in the Doc Hosea Invitational, Rhode Island will look to keep up the momentum when it competes in the Overpeck Regatta on Saturday.
