BOSTON, Massachusets - Marist women's rowing spent this past Saturday at the Head of the Charles, in Boston, MA. Marist's current athletes raced in the Club 4 and the Club 8 events, while a crew of recent and not so recent grads raced in the alumnae 8 category.
 

Recap

Unlike last year's exceptional weather, the northeast's normal regatta weekend weather lived up to its reputation for race day. A steady rain, chilly temperatures and a decent tailwind were on the menu for the day. Everyone took this in stride and handled these conditions very well.

Our alumnae 8 (bow #44), consisted of coxswain Katie Moody '22, Lisa Chase (D'Aniello) '08, Sydney Ford '20, Sara Barker '21, Emma Jauch '23, Kelsi Cottrell '18, Julia Rigothi '17, Caroline Voorhis '23 and Jasmine Miller '21.  This crew huffed and puffed its way down the course in a blazing time of 18:15.96 good enough for a 29th place finish in a field of 50 crews. The crew had a great experience and returned the boat in one piece, which was actually a win for the program! The alumnae will be hitting the gym starting Monday with a renewed hunger for getting faster every year moving forward.

The lineup for the Club 4 event (bow #22), consisted of coxswain, Emma Spiro, Katie Beichert, Sydney Macchia, Kora Eckelman and Emily Liguori. In the field of 52 crews, the Marist 4 finished the course in a time of 19:52.68, placing it 27th. This boat rowed an aggressive race and controlled everything it could over the 4800m course packed with turns, bridges and crews of various experience levels. Most importantly this young lineup gained valuable racing experience against top-notch rowing programs, which will help the team moving forward. 

The Club 8 (bow #14), consisting of coxswain Ariana Novero, Summer Starrett, Gabby Insero, Natalia Miklos, Ashley Surette, Natalie Ronan, Avalon Johnson, Isabel Consavari and Rebecca Paul raced aggressively and confidently in the less-than-ideal conditions. In a field of 40 crews, the eight finished 16th in a time of 17:16.99, guaranteeing an entry for next year's regatta. This crew had a solid week of preparation leading up to the race and were able to execute its plan and knock off some crews it had been targeting, which was good to see.

The two coxswains, Emma Spiro in the 4 and Ariana Novero in the 8, both steered excellent courses. Fall races are often considered to be "coxswain's races" as the coxswain must steer the most direct route from start to finish, navigating unfamiliar 3-mile courses with multiple turns and bridges, all while racing the clock against crews in single file or passing a crew when the opportunity presents itself. Leading up to the race, Emma and Ariana studied the course, watched videos of crews racing down the course and educated their boat mates on where the turns and bridges were and what to expect at each point in the race. Their pre-race preparation instilled a lot of confidence in the rowers and their efforts warrant recognition.

Full Results may be found at Row2k.com
 

From Coach Sanford

"The crews enjoyed the actual racing if not the weather itself this weekend. The Charles is a great event every year regardless of the weather. We continue to make progress as we enter the second half of the fall season. It was also very exciting to see the large number of alumnae/alumni racing and supporting the team and then socializing at the trailer and along the banks of the river." - Tom Sanford, Director of Rowing & Head Coach of Women's Rowing