SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. — The Cornell women's rowing team continued its stellar fall season with a commanding performance at the Head of the Fish Regatta on Saturday afternoon, capturing four gold medals and seven top-five finishes across its 10 entries.
Six Cornell rowers recorded multiple gold-medal finishes on the day: Isabella Capelli, Alexis Engman, Eleanor Bijeau, Elise Rueppel, Linnea Barrachin, and coxswain Summit Mock.
"It was a great day for the team overall. We nearly came away with fish heads in all of our events, so that is always fun," said Steve Coppola, the Staley Head Coach of Cornell Women's Rowing. "They were on a mission and knew we had to come out blazing. With it being a shorter head race, we couldn't get caught pacing it like a three-mile piece. The team has been attacking their training and really wanted to make sure that we showed off that fitness. Out of respect for our competition, we wanted to make sure we set out a borderline unreasonable pace to make sure we could build up a little cushion on them."
Fresh off a bronze-medal finish at the Head of the Charles last weekend, the Big Red showcased its depth with first-place finishes in the Women's Collegiate Eight, Collegiate Frosh/Novice Four, Collegiate Four, and Collegiate Frosh/Novice Eight. Cornell's V8+ set the tone early, posting a dominant time of 11:27.487 to claim gold by more than 15 seconds over second-place Boston College (11:42.773).
The depth of Cornell's program was on full display in the 2V8+, where all three Big Red entries cracked the top seven. The 'A' crew earned silver with a time of 12:06.301, finishing just 1.3 seconds behind Boston College (12:04.993). The 'C' crew placed fifth (12:34.868), while the 'B' boat took seventh (12:41.044).
Cornell's fours claimed three of the top seven spots in the 4+ event, which featured 41 crews. The 'A' crew won gold by nearly 19 seconds with a time of 12:35.945, while the 'B' crew took fourth (13:02.607) and the 'C' crew finished seventh (13:09.864). The 'D' crew rounded out Cornell's efforts with a 17th-place finish (13:58.389).
The Big Red's frosh/novice crews continued the program's winning ways, claiming gold in the 4+ race by over 33 seconds (13:46.496) and the 8+ captured first place with a time of 12:09.904, more than 15 seconds ahead of runner-up Boston College.
BOATINGS
V8+: Emmy Tyrcha (coxswain), Isabella Capelli (stroke), Alexis Engman, Eleanor Bijeau, Elise Rueppel, Cedar Wink, Linnea Barrachin, Alex Fazler, Zoe Benitez (bow).
2V8+ 'A': Charlotte Langlois (coxswain), Amelia King (stroke), Chloe Darcy, Fabia Emblem, Katie Kress, Kyra McCarrick, Ilaria Costello, Julia van der Zwan, Olivia Weeldreyer (bow).
2V8+ 'B': Charlotte Hastings (coxswain), Marguerite Scaturo (stroke), Annie Koch, Maggie Provencal, Mary Gray, Anna Duffy, Delaney Brinton, Grace Raab, Josie Moskovitz (bow)
2V8+ 'C': Lauren Chase (coxswain), Sophie Barr (stroke), Becca Jeffries, Izzie Riccardi, Maggie Huggins, Liz Brantley, Elizabeth Rogers, Emily Mayer, Lila Reilly (bow)
Frosh/Novice 8+: Charlotte Hastings (coxswain), Marguerite Scaturo (stroke), Linnea Barrachin, Maggie Provencal, Skylar Mead, Gillian-Anne McLane, Anna Knight, Syndiely Tsoungui, Sasha Zivin (bow)
V4+ 'A': Hannah Woodhull (coxswain), Isabella Capelli (stroke), Alexis Engman, Eleanor Bijeau, Elise Rueppel (bow)
V4+ 'B': Summit Mock (coxswain), Alex Fazler (stroke), Zoe Benitez, Cedar Wink, Olivia Weeldreyer (bow)
V4+ 'C': Lauren Chase (coxswain), Amelia King (stroke), Chloe Darcy, Kyra McCarrick, Katie Kress (bow)
V4+ 'D': Brinda Karmakar (coxswain), Julia van der Zwan (stroke), Josie Moskovitz, Emily Yoon, Ilaria Costello (bow)
Frosh/Novice 4+: Summit Mock (coxswain), Eden Fisher (stroke), Avery McClelland, Aria Capelli, Clara Masata (bow)
A LOOK UPSTREAM
Cornell will conclude its fall slate next Saturday, Nov. 1, when it competes against its Central New York rival Syracuse in a scrimmage at the Ten Eyck Boathouse.
"We get to 'get in the lab' and experiment with some things before having to head indoors for the winter," Coppola said. "The semester has flown by and I think that is because everyone is having so much fun."
