Oct. 31, 2011
GOLD RIVER, Calif. - Stanford women's rowing continued its fall season at the Head of the American Regatta in Gold River, Calif. over the weekend. The team's performance was highlighted by victories in the women's pair and collegiate novice eight events.
"The team has really made excellent progress in just over four weeks of training," said Stanford women's rowing head coach Yasmin Farooq. "I appreciate that our girls are always ready for anything, and the Head of the American is a day of racing in a variety of surprise lineups, with everyone racing multiple times. The day is designed to be mentally and physically challenging, and once again, the girls stepped up and produced legitimate results in every event. The NCAA's are a long ways away, and the talent in the Pac-12 is real. We're lucky to have such a strong conference and an opportunity for some fall sparring within it."
After a brief encounter with some trees shortly after the start, the Stanford B combo of Kristy Wentzel and Christina Bax charged through the field to claim victory in the 18-boat field by just over a second over California's B entry. Wentzel and Bax's final time was 20:16.34.
Meanwhile, Stanford's A pair of Erin Radigan and Susan Bryukhanov battled with Washington's A pair over the body of the race, and at one point clashed oars. Radigan and Bryukhanov ultimately finished seventh with a time of 20:45.31. Stanford's C boat of Julianna Kapjian-Pitt and Sarah Bolmer rowed to a sixth-place finish in 20:43.63.
"The pairs have not been a focus for us because we really have to use the first weeks of training for fundamentals, but some of the girls want to pursue the national team, so we wanted to seize the opportunity to race in the event," said Farooq. "The pair is a tough and technical boat to row. All three boats really embraced the opportunity and went for it. That was fun and exciting to watch."
In the women's collegiate novice eight event, Stanford's 17:20.68 time was nearly 1:07 ahead of California's A boat for the win in the 17-boat field. USC took third, about 1:48 behind.
The annual freshman bonding trip paid big dividends as the Cardinal charged out of the blocks and steadily opened the lead over the 5k course. Stanford's lineup consisted of Elsa Brown, Madeline Graham, and Quinn Walker.
"The frosh really set the tone for the day, and are doing a super job making technical changes and adapting to the training that will be key to the NCAA championship season," Farooq noted. "On our squad, the frosh are integrated into varsity practice from day one, so this is their chance to race together early in the season and unite as a class. We are all really proud of them."
In the eights, Stanford's A boat of Naomi Cornman, Kristy Wentzel, Christina Bax, Daphne Martschenko, Marielle Higgins, Alison Fauci, Alix Chrumka, Chelsea Shannon and Nancy Miles finished third in 16:39.44, about 26 seconds behind USC A and Washington just two seconds behind runner-up Washington. California B was fourth in 16:41.88 and the Stanford B lineup of Jenna Levy, Erin Radigan, Julianna Kapjian-Pitt, Caitlin Byrnes, Claire Grover, Sarah Bolmer, Amanda Lorei, Kayla Cornale, Rebecca Felix was fifth in 16:47.52.
In the collegiate fours, USC's A and B entries finished first and second, respectively, with California's C in third. Stanford's B lineup of Katie Lopez, Alison Fauci, Claire Grover, Rebecca Felix and Daphne Martschenko finished fourth with a time of 18:36.42, nearly 53 seconds off the winning pace.
Stanford's "Senior Four" of Jenna Levy, Susan Bryukhanov, Erin Radigan, Marielle Higgins and Kayla Cornale finished seventh in 18:50.44. Stanford's C lineup of Ayesha Rasheed, Madeline Graham, Elisa Brown, Anne Osborn and Shanique Martin passed four boats over the course and finished 12th in the 23-boat race.