Yesterday, WM crews squared off against their Fordham counterparts with great success!
The novice men and women remained undefeated in their sprint pieces throughout the day. As the future of the program, the ability of the novice to consistently beat other crews from a well established rowing program bodes well for the Tribe. Novice coaches Mike Bayersdorfer and Anna Card deserve commendation for a job well done.
Novice Men
After a long and arduous winter training, the novice men were anxious to test their mettle against a team that has historically been some very tough competition.
Saturday morning, the Tribe raced a 1500 m piece, three 1000 m pieces, and a 500 m piece against Fordham’s novice eight. The starting lineup for the Tribe was coxswain Katie Oberg ’16, stroke Will Emmons ’16, Adam Mullet ’15, Marshall Irby ’16, Scott Klein ’15, Will Plews-Ogen ’15, Jack Bramley ’15, Jamal Usmani ’16, and David Heras ’14 in bow. The first piece of the day was the 1500m piece, and William and Mary moved on Fordham right off the start. A very precise transition to race pace from the opening power 20 gave the Tribe a commanding lead they never surrendered, with the novice men displaying admirable composure and focus throughout the duration of the piece.
On the next piece, the Tribe finished well ahead of Fordham, taking considerable open water over the 1000 m of the piece. After that piece, coxswain Nic Querolo ’16 took over the microphone and Martin Liu ’16 took over in bow seat- and the Tribe did not miss a beat. Over the next two 1000 m pieces, William and Mary continued to put a lot of length in between themselves and Fordham, winning decisively each time. The last 500 m piece resulted in a Tribe victory as well- giving the novice men an undefeated day of racing in their first competition of the spring!
Novice Women
Windy conditions kept the crews confined to the creek, so seven 800 meter pieces were rowed. The schools raced 7 times, with William and Mary winning each race except for the fourth, in which it was a dead heat. The William and Mary 8+, stroked by Claire Goydan, averaged 29 strokes per minute for the day, Fordham averaged a 34. The squad is grateful to Fordham for the opportunity to race them, as both teams benefited from the experience.
Below is the video of the WMRC novice women during the 5th race piece. WM is the far yellow boat. From coxswain to bow, the line up was: Mairin Haley, Claire Goydan, Jessie Viss, Kate Mott, Kelsey Mix, Lauren Piulson, Camila Fishtahler, Arielle Galston, and Alex Coffey. Throughout the race, the strokes of the Tribe remain long, controlled and powerful-a difficult feat for a young boat in their first collegiate duel. This is especially noticeable when contrasted to the Fordham boat, which is rowing an inefficient 5 strokes per minute faster and losing ground. Hopefully the novice can build on this early success throughout the spring.