University of Louisville
Rivanna Romp
Rowing Closes Fall with Strong Showing at Rivanna Romp
November 11, 2012 | Rowing
Nov. 11, 2012
EARLYSVILLE, Va. - The Louisville women's rowing team closed the fall racing season with a pair of top-four finishes at the Rivanna Romp hosted by the University of Virginia at the Rivanna Reservoir.
Electing to travel only 15 of the Cardinals' rowers for this final event, Louisville competed in a varsity eights event as well as a fours event. In the varsity eight race, the Louisville crew of coxswain Ellen Fawcett, Darya Marchanka, Hannah Ritter, Katya Monchenko, Kathleen O'Connell, Erin Bennett, Amy Van Syoc, Morgan Dunham, and Hanna Spittel rowed to a fourth-place finish in the field of 13 with a time of 13:48. In the fours event, the Cardinals' top crew finishing crew of Fawcett, Marchanka, Ritter, Bennett and Van Syoc was third in the field of 18 with a time of 15:26.
"This course was very technically challenging and it was a great indication of not only the speed of our rowers, but also the skill of our coxswains," said Louisville head coach Derek Copeland. "It was difficult for the team to leave half of the girls behind in Louisville, but we felt it was important for the team as a whole to test our speed against some of the top crews in the country."
The Cardinals had two other boats competing in the fours event with the crew of coxswain Alexis St. Martin, Sam Sinnett, Jami Montesano, Lucy Wilshier and Marissa Thalen earning a sixth-place finish with a time of 15:38, while the crew of coxswain Andrea Zorn, Spittel, Monchenko, O'Connell and Dunham was seventh overall with a time of 15:39.
"We felt prepared to take it to the next level and that's exactly what we did," said O'Connell following the morning races. "After this tough racing, we're excited about the speed of our team going into winter training."
Up next, Louisville will focus on winter training before opening the spring racing season on March 16-17 at the Oak Ridge Invitational in Oak Ridge, Tenn.
