Photo credit: Angela Cashmore
Moon Township, Pa. – The
Robert Morris University rowing team concluded fall action Saturday by competing in the Head of the Occoquan in Fairfax, Va.
RMU's Varsity 8 and Varsity 4 each put forth strong performances. The Varsity 8 earned 10th out of 31 teams with a time of 18:16.00.
For the Varsity 8, freshman
Kestra Harris served as the coxswain and she was joined in the boat by sophomore
Kathryn Gossel, senior
Tina Sahr, sophomore
Grace Faye, freshman
Sophie Carroll, senior
Taylor Childers, sophomore
Hannah Daman and seniors
Emily Engle-Young and
Katelyn Goodman.
"I couldn't be happier with the way we are finishing the fall season," head coach
Nelle Stahura said. "Every single boat showed that they have improved this fall, and that is exactly what we have asked them to do. We faced some very competitive crews at the Head of the Occoquan, and the team responded with confidence and grit, placing much higher than they expected to. We are all excited to use this momentum as we head in to winter training."
In the Varsity 4, three boats raced for the Colonials, earning places of seventh, 13th and 23rd. The first Varsity 4 boat for Robert Morris crossed the finish line with a time of 20:00.97 and featured Harris as the coxswain and Sahr, Childers, Engle-Young and Goodman.
The second Varsity 4 boat posted a time of 20:36.70 and saw junior
Kate Cecchi, sophomore
Miriam Levenson, Faye and Gossel join sophomore
Sarah Heastings as the coxswain. The third Varsity 4 featured junior
Lindsay Feltz as the coxswain and included sophomores
Alyssa VanAuken and
Sara Beth Johnson, junior
Melissa Asaro and senior
Rebecca Fiscus.
RMU also had a pair of novice boats compete, with the Novice 8 placing 14th thanks to a time of 21:32.29. Freshman
Brittany Bell served as the coxswain, while rookies Aaliyah Orgovan, Alaina Nugent,
Alexandra Stangle,
Sophie Carroll and
Kari Campbell, sophomore
Hannah Daman and freshmen Christina Kowalski and
Elizabeth Cottrell were in boat.
"I'm extremely proud of our novice team," assistant coach
Carol Schoenecker. "They did an exceptional job staying calm and focused in all of their races during their first regatta. The growth that they're shown in the two months that they've been involved in this sport is enormous. We're excited to see what they're capable of achieving in the spring."
The Novice 4 earned 13th and 15th, respectively, posting times of 23:58.61 and 24:45.40. The first Novice 4 saw Cottrell as the coxswain and featured Orgovan, Pottgeiser, Kowalski and Nugent. The second Novice 4 Bell again served as the coxswain, while freshman Sarah Paviol, Stangle and rookies
Brianna Proctor and
Nicole Olinger composed the boat.Â
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