FELLSMERE, Fla. – Collegiate rowing is always a battle for positioning to reach the NCAA National Championships in May. Today, the Barry University rowing team dominated at the Florida Fall Classic previewing them as one of the top teams in the South Region as they concluded a successful fall performance with four medals.
The two-mile race featured teams from Florida including NCAA Division I, II and NAIA. Barry’s veteran rowers secured two gold medals, while the freshman novice rowers showcased their talent earning gold and silver medals.
In the varsity 8 event, the Buccaneers (coxswain, Caitlyn McGowan; Angelique Ceccon, stroke; Jovana Djukic, Meg Denholm, Robin Cascioli, Hayley Robinson, Libby Lowe, Lyndsay Edmonds, Gurnoor Kang, bow) set out to defend their 2004 gold medal. Despite fighting strong headwinds, they did just that earning first place with a time of 12:46 finishing 0:29 seconds ahead of second place Florida Tech (13:15). Nova Southeastern (13:18) finished third and the Miami JV shell (13:52) finished fourth.
“We’ve been competing against big name Division I schools all fall,” head coach Paul Mokha said. “This was a chance to race against our conference schools and we went out today and won convincingly. It shows what is certainly possible in the spring.”
Freshman Robin Cascioli added, “We went in wanting to do really well. We fought strong headwinds all day, but we flowed together and it turned out well for the team.”
Barry’s varsity 4A (coxswain, McGowan; Ceccon, stroke; Djukic, Denholm, Linsey Bierschbach, bow) continued to dominate the field securing their second gold medal of the day winning with a time of 15:13. Florida Tech (15:36) finished 0:23 seconds back for the silver medal and Nova Southeastern (16:09) finished third. After a collision with the Nova Southeastern boat early in the race, Barry’s B shell (coxswain, Ivana Fredotovic; Lowe, stroke; Edmonds, Lina Mizerek, Amy Grosshandler, bow) finished fourth with a time of 17:57.
The freshmen set the tone in the Novice 4A event winning by 0:41 seconds. The novice 4A shell (coxswain, Ramersad; Cascioli, stroke; Kang, Chelsey Backus, Jen Callahan, bow) took the gold medal with a time of 16:04, while Florida Tech finished second with a time of 16:45. Rollins (18:07), Florida (18:10), Nova Southeastern (18:13) and Embry Riddle (20:03) rounded out the bottom six.
“It felt really good to win by that margin,” Cascioli said. “It proved that our freshmen are really good and that our team has a lot of substance. We swung together extremely well and finished strong.”
Mokha added, “We showed speed and depth from top to bottom. They did a great job and finished the fall season the way they’ve rowed all season.”
After securing their two gold medals in the varsity events, it was time for the rookie showcase. In the Novice 8 event, the Buccaneers (coxswain, Reshma Ramersad; Nanci Cook, stroke; Elise Carlson, Felicia Hunt; Rebecca Berthold, Ashley Johnson, Brianna Hopkins, Morgan Abaravich, Guadalupe Murphy, bow) finished fifth with a time of 19:26 just ahead of sixth-place Nova Southeastern. NCAA Division I Central Florida won with a time of 15:59, while Miami, Rollins and Florida finished second through fourth respectively.
After shedding the jitters off in the Novice 8 event, the Buccaneers turned around and concluded a successful day of racing with a silver medal in the Novice 4B event. Barry’s 4B shell (coxswain, Lauren Taylor; Cook, stroke; Carlson, Hunt, Hopkins, bow) rowed a time of 19:40 for second place, while Florida Tech finished first at 18:14. Florida (20:25) finished third and Rollins (22:28) finished fourth.
“I’m so proud of the novice team,” novice coach Maura McVeigh said. “After being exhausted rowing the novice 8 event, they mustered enough energy to put out a great result. I feel they represented Barry in an outstanding way.”
Cascioli added “I was so happy for them. They have been practicing so hard and have shown a love and passion for the sport. They really wanted the gold, but it was really exciting to see them do so well.”
This meant the conclusion of the fall season for the Buccaneers. They will return to the water this spring on Saturday, Mar. 11 hosting NCAA Division I UConn at Krome Quarry.
