GENESEE VALLEY PARK - The University of Rochester rowing team brought home two sets of medals at the annual Head of the Genesee regatta, earning gold in the Novice 8 and silver in the Varsity 4 events. 

UR's novice 8A was impressive winning over 12 other boats, clocking in a time of 17:12.21. That time aided the Yellowjackets in winning by over fifty seconds ahead of runner-up RIT. St. Lawrence's novice 8 ended third. The Yellowjackets also had a second entry which placed 10th in 20:00.12.
 
"The novice 8A boat was very impressive today," said Director of Rowing John Gaskin, "their race was solid from start to finish." Starting second down the course, they took command by passing the first starter, RIT, fairly early in the race. The crew continued to push and just expanded the gap as they went down the course. The Novice 8A boat had a time that would have put them third in the Varsity 2V8+ race.
 
For the B entry, this was their first racing experience. "Despite racing a lineup that had not fully practiced together during the week, the ladies did a great job of keeping together and finishing strong," said Gaskin.  The crew consisted of all walk-on athletes who started rowing three weeks ago.
 

The Yellowjackets varsity 4 boat ended runner-up for the silver medal among 14 teams with a time of 18:26.69. The gold went to Division I Buffalo with a time of 18:07.40. SUNY Geneseo finished third.
 
"I was impressed by the tenacity of the women in this race. They started well back in the pack and had to fight through a lot of traffic during the race," explained Gaskin after the race. "Having to deal with this in a head race can be challenging and our ladies handled it great. Kudos to Coxswain Linnie Shell for steering a great course and the rest of the crew for pulling on every stroke to take the silver."
 
The team has two competitions remaining for the fall, our annual inter-squad "Wiley" on 10/20 and then they close out the season at the Head of the Schuylkill Regatta in Philadelphia on October 27th.
 
VARSITY 4+: Saralinda Schell '19, Claudia Weaver '19, Emma Poulin '21, Lexy Fiala '21, Elizabeth Sadrakula '20
Novice 8+A: Pari Sharma, Brianna Best, Annalie O'Brien, Elizabeth Yarnall, Anna White, Rachel Anthony, Shirley Zhang, Shellie Downie, Hannah Glucksman (all '22)
Novice 8+B: Eleanor Mancusi-Ungaro, Alyssa Steger, Kira Hellard, Scarlett Newman, Annie Rosenow, Kyra Lovett, Joanne Lee, Julia Weinstock, Izzy Orup (all '22)