The University of Rhode Island women’s rowing team returned to action on Saturday, sending four boats to compete against Bucknell and Cornell University on Cayuga Lake in Ithaca, N.Y.
Bucknell narrowly edged Rhode Island in the Varsity 8+ race, with a time of 6:31.3. The Rams finished with a time of 6:34.2.
The Second Varsity 8+ boat of first-year athletes Rachel Bauhaus, Charlotte Aeder, second-year Sage Sabatino, third-years Amanda Cubit, Anna Kann, Payton Klein, Anna Smith, fourth-years Emma Larsh and Abigail Galavda, worked together to beat Bucknell with a time of 6:50.8. Bucknell finished with a time of 6:55.4.
The Varsity 4+ boat of first-years Kate Sullivan, Sophia Thyer, third-years Maddy Papik, Eryn Wale and fourth-year Irma Accius took first place with a time of 7:51.4. Bucknell finished right behind Rhode Island in 7:59.9.
“Winning is fun,” Rhode Island head coach Shelagh Donohoe said. “It’s great to have those wins under their belt, there’s no doubt about it. It builds confidence, which is always something you got to work on. It was great, they raced really well. Hopefully, we can get a few more as we’re coming into the second half of the season.”
Against Cornell, Rhode Island would come up a few seconds short in all four races.
In the Varsity 8+ race, Cornell edged the Rams with a time of 6:27.47. Rhode Island finished in 6:32.35.
The Second Varsity 8+ boat finished right behind Cornell at a time of 6:50.3; Cornell completed the race in 6:43.1.
The trend of falling short continued; Cornell beat the Rams in the Varsity 4+ race in 7:32.23, and URI finished in 7:42.75.
The third Varsity 8+ race would go to Cornell in 6:54.1; Rhode Island finished in 7:16.1.
Despite coming up just short in the races against Cornell, Donohoe believes the Rams can make improvements heading into their upcoming races.
“I think we just have to finish the race,” Donohoe said. “We went for 1,500 meters and just got to work on our last 500, that’s something we’ve got to work on.”
Rhode Island is entering its fourth consecutive week of the spring season. Next up, the Rams will head to Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, Mass., for the next two weekends.
URI will face off against the College of the Holy Cross, Boston University and the University of Delaware on Saturday.
“We’ll see if everything we’ve been working on this week works,” Donohoe said. “If we do that, I’ll be happy, and if that gets us a win, good for us. I think we’ve got to be able to do what we’ve been practicing in a race situation. We have a lot of young kids on the team, so it’s a learning process, but they’re getting more seasoned. I’m excited to see what this weekend brings.”
In four weeks, Rhode Island heads to Cherry Hill, N.J., to defend its Atlantic 10 title and look to clinch a third consecutive championship.
