Bates vs. WPI, Hamilton, Willamette, URI
at Lake Quinsigamond, Worcester, Mass.

WORCESTER, Mass. — The Bates rowing team opened its spring season against WPI, Hamilton, Willamette University out of Oregon and the University of Rhode Island. Head coach Andrew Carter filed this report.

Varsity Men 8+

The first event of the day pitted Bates against a notably strong crew from WPI, Hamilton, and Willamette. The race quickly became a two crew affair, with WPI and Bates getting out on the field. Holding a quarter boat length lead coming into the last 500m, the Bobcats held off a late charge by WPI to nip the Engineers by 0.2 seconds at the wire. Making the victory more impressive was the fact that the Bates men lost the fin from their boat early in their warm-up, making the shell nearly impossible to steer. Despite the handicap, coxswain Elizabeth Berkey piloted her crew to an impressive season opening win.

Bates         6:15.6
WPI           6:15.8
Willamette    6:30.4
Hamilton      6:35.4

Lineup:    Pete Mertz, Mark Thomson, John Bunce, 
Tim Talbot, Drew Walsh, Jeff Benecchi, Ryan Champagne, 
Chal Congdon, Elizabeth Berkey (coxswain)

Varsity Women 8+

The Bates Varsity started their first race of the season cleanly and in a tight field from WPI (ranked 5th in NCAA DIII), Willamette, Hamilton, and URI. However, a serious crab (oar getting stuck in the water) ended the hopes for the Bobcats at the 1200m mark. At the time of the accident, Bates held a slight advantage over Willamette and were moving back on the front runners from WPI and URI.

URI            7:00.0
WPI            7:01.8
Willamette     7:14.8
Bates          7:23.6
Hamilton       7:26.5
 
Lineup:   Shelby Graham, Kate Mannle, Andrea Noyes, 
Lindsay Fry, Anna Felton, Laura Allen, 
Renee Blacken, Lori Massa, Kate Strum (coxswain)

Frosh men 8+

The first year men had a strong opening day against two crews from WPI. WPI showed their depth and knowledge of their home course to pull out a one second victory in a very hotly contested race. Quite even in the last 250m, the Engineers put on an impressive sprint to gain the advantage at the line.

WPI "A"      6:32.7
Bates        6:33.7
WPI "B"      7:18.5
 
Lineup:  Josh Lichtman, Colm McCarthy, Marcus Owens, 
Graham Marsh, Sam Hotchkiss, Justin Jacobs, 
Karl Dietrich, Andrew Byrnes, Laurie Lau (coxswain)

Frosh women 8+

In the most impressive race of the day, the Bates frosh humbled the women from URI in a head to head race as Hamilton and WPI were unable to boat their crews. Getting cleanly off the line ahead of URI, the Bobcats lengthened their lead all the way to the finish, winning by a margin of as much as 100m.

Bates   no time
URI     no time

 
Lineup:   Dierdre Grant, Katie Carroll, Lauren Reynolds, 
Debbie Opar, Sienna Vorono, Kate Kemp, 
Elizabeth Diamond, Kari Ording, Carly Rockstroh (coxswain)

Men 2nd Varsity 8+

With injuries plaguing the Men's program, Sam Hotchkiss and Laurie Lau doubled into the 2nd Varsity race with under an hour of rest. Rising to the challenge both contributed to a good season opener for the 2V against two crews from WPI. The Engineers showed impressive speed in the top crew and won the race easily, but the Bates men prevailed in a tight duel with WPI's second crew.

WPI        6:46.6
Bates      7:02.2
WPI "B"    7:05.1

Lineup:  Chris McTighe, Stacy Layton, James Fischer, 
Andrew Caraganis, Sam Hotchkiss, Nate McConarty, 
Phillip Beickler, Peter Ryan, Laurie Lau (coxswain)