Varsity Eight Has School's Best-Ever Showing At Eastern Sprints
SU's varsity eight won its heat crossing the finish line in 6:38.7. The boat, coxswained by Heather DiLoreto (East Amherst, NY), finished the finals in 6:41.8. The USRowing/ Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association's top-ranked team, Brown, finished the finals in 6:38.4, while Princeton took second place in 6:41.4. The varsity eight, with captains Katie Modolo (St. Catherines, Ontario, Canada) and Libby Graves (Holden, MA), had won eight consecutive races before the Eastern Sprints, the longest streak in Syracuse history.
The Orangewomen's second varsity eight took third place in the petite finals. SU finished the finals in 7:06.2, the Orangewomen came in fourth in their heat with a time of 7:09.2. Erin Gallagher (Upper Darby, PA) was the coxswain and Shannon Mercurio (Saranac Lake, NY, Corcoran HS) and Seana Miller (West Redding, CT) powered the boat from the seventh and sixth seats, respectively.
Syracuse's third varsity four-A won the petite finals after placing fourth in its heat. The Orangewomen's most improved rower of 2001, Lesley Wolf (Syracuse, NY, Henninger HS) was the second seat in the boat that crossed the finish line in 8:08.3 in the finals and 8:07.0 in the heat.
The Orange's varsity four-B made the grand finals after coming in second in its heat (8:13.5). In the grand finals the boat finished fifth with a time of 8:08.9. Emily Spitale (Northport, NY) was the bow and Meg Sitcoske (Barrington, RI) was the stroke.
Syracuse's novice four placed fifth in the petite finals (8:50.0), while the SU novice eight boat took third (7:14.2) in the third-level finals.
The Eastern Sprints is the championship of the Eastern Association of Women's Rowing Colleges. The winner of the Eastern Sprints does not receive an automatic bid to the NCAA championship, however a team's perfomance is weighed heavily by the NCAA selection committee, which makes its decision on Tuesday.
Varsity 8 Grand Finals 1. Brown 6:38.4 2. Princeton 6:41.4 3. Syracuse 6:41.8 2nd Varsity Eight Grand Finals 1. Brown 6:38.8 2. Harvard 6:41.7 3. Yale 6:44.8 Petite Finals 3. Syracuse 7:06.2 Varsity Four-A Grand Finals 1. Brown 7:43.5 2. Wisconsin 7:48.9 3. Virginia 7:50.86 Petite Finals 1. Syracuse 8:08.3 Varsity Four-B Grand Finals 1. Princeton 7:42.5 2. Virginia 7:45.4 3. Wisconsin 7:49.5 5. Syracuse 8:08.9 Novice Eight Grand Finals 1. Cornell 6:51.3 2. Harvard 6:53.1 3. Brown 6:54.3 3rd-Level Finals 3. Syracuse 7:14.2 Novice Four Grand Finals 1. Wisconsin 8:09.3 2. Princeton 8:21.8 3. Columbia 8:24.6 Petite Finals 5. Syracuse 8:50.0
