The Collegian

Issue date: 10/31/06 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Amy Romero

This past Saturday, the Saint Mary's women's crew team finished their fall racing system with a strong showing at the annual Head of the American Regatta.

A novice crew and two varsity squads competed against a variety of other collegiate teams from all over the state at Lake Natoma in Sacramento.

The novice (first-year rowers) boat did surprisingly well for their lack of experience, finishing eighth of 14 boats and, in the process beating three pairs of boats, one from Sonoma State, Pacific, and Mills College. An overall time of 21:40 put the Gael rowers 2:14 off the winning pace set by University of Southern California (USC).

The two varsity boats finished similarly, near the center of the pack in their heat, with the "B" and "A" boats finishing 13th and 14th out of 23 teams, respectively. In fact, the Saint Mary's boats were so equally matched that they were separated by only 11 seconds. Both Gael squads were an average of a minute and a half off the winning pace posted by Stanford.

For only their second race of the year, the team is encouraged by their two finishes thus far and eagerly anticipates an exciting spring racing season.

"Our team is composed of relatively new rowers, so I feel like we are continuing to lay a solid foundation for a strong spring season," said Whitney Medved '09 about the novice and varsity teams' progress.

With the end of the team's fall season, their next big event will be their annual Erg-A-Thon fundraiser.

The event will involve rowers continually working on the ergs (rowing machines) in one hour shifts in hopes of raising money based upon the number of meters they amass.

Two years ago, the team figuratively rowed to Lake Tahoe and back, while last year, they made it Los Angeles. This year, the Erg-A-Thon is scheduled to take place next Wednesday, November 8.

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