FELLSMERE, Fla.—The Barry Buccaneers closed out the fall racing season with an outstanding performance at the Florida Intercollegiate Rowing Association Fall Classic on Saturday. The Bucs claimed three medals, including gold in both the varsity 8+ and varsity 4+ races.
“Overall the racing was great,” Barry head coach Dave Sanderson said. “Like Herman Edwards said, we play the game to win, so we are very happy with the results. They are a young group and we’re really excited for them. They did a great job preparing and really put it together on race day.”
The varsity 8+ boat (Cox - Grace Horwitz, Stroke – Brianne Misner, Kelly Harrison, Brielle Bowers, Summerlin Knipe, Katie Rogers, Renee Forcier, Kelsey Garcia, and bow - Courtney Greene) got the day started off right by taking the gold medal in the morning’s first women’s race. The Bucs covered the course in 12:10.3, edging out the “A” boat from Florida (12:12.4) by two seconds. Nova Southeastern (12:12.4) came in third, just two-tenths of a second back. Florida State (12:35.4) and Rollins (12:40.6) and Florida’s “B” boat (13:01.9) rounded out the field.
“The varsity 8 had a race plan and executed it all the way down the course,” Sanderson said.
The Bucs took a bronze medal in the novice 4+ race, out of 11 crews. Florida Tech’s “A” boat (13:53.6) came in first, followed by Florida State “A” (14:05.4). The Bucs (Cox-Epiphany Edwards, stroke - Nicole Marek, Consentina James, Bianca Boada, and bow - Michelle Geiger) finished third in 14:50.2, less than one second ahead of Central Florida (14:51.1) for the bronze. Florida State “B” (15:01.2) finished fifth.
“The novice 4 had a great result,” Sanderson said. “The boat has really come together in the last week and raced well.”
In the varsity 4+ race, the Bucs place two boats in the top four. The “A” boat (Cox - Grace Horwitz, Stroke – Brianne Misner, Kelly Harrison, Brielle Bowers, and bow - Summerlin Knipe) brought home the gold in 13:25.8, followed by Florida Tech (13:27.4) and Nova Southeastern “A” (13:32.8). The Buccaneers’ “B” boat (Cox – Vanessa Viadero, Stroke - Renee Forcier, Katie Rogers, Courtney Greene, Bow - Kelsey Garcia) came in fourth at 13:41.0, while Rollins “A” (14:05.3) was fifth in the nine-team field.
“The fours did really well,” Sanderson said. “Two boats in the top four show we have good consistent speed in the boats. The ‘A’ boat did a great job sticking to their rhythm all the way down the course and the ‘B’ boat rowed a super-aggressive race.”
The novice 8+ boat (Cox - Epiphany Edwards, stroke - Nicole Marek, Consentina James, Kadi Karam, Helene Pierre, Bianca Boada, Michelle Geiger, Sharnel Lyttle, and bow - April Montgomery) placed fifth in a field of nine with a time of 14:30.7. Florida State “A” (13:05.9) placed first, followed by Florida Tech (13:10.1) and Embry-Riddle (13:37.0). Florida’s “A” boat placed fourth in 14:14.1.
“The fall racing season is always about working on fundamentals of the stroke, Sanderson said. “That was our overall goal this fall: to put miles in and work on fundamentals of the stroke. And it’s always great when the results verify the hard work you’ve been putting in on the water. We’re really pleased with the results of the team, but everyone knows that it’s just preparation for the spring championship season. Everyone knows there’s a lot of hard work to be done to race to the best of our ability in the spring season.”