Nov. 30, 2007

Bronx, N.Y. - The Fordham Women's Rowing Team Successfully defended its title as Fall Metropolitan Intercollegiate Rowing Champions in impressive fashion by sweeping all Varsity events at the Orchard Beach Lagoon on Saturday, November 10. Eight other schools competed, including Iona, Sacred Heart, Fairfield, SUNY Maritime, Sarah Lawrence, Hofstra, CW Post and Manhattan and they all finished behind Fordham in the overall team championship and in all five varsity races.

In the premiere event, the Championship Eight for the Christeen Steffen Memorial Cup, the Lady Rams quickly took the lead and never looked back as they won easily over Iona in a time of 5:16.5. Iona was more than 10 seconds back, with Fairfield another length back and Sacred Heart less than a second behind Fairfield.

In the Varsity Eight B event Fordham won in a time of 5:36.5 by open water over Sacred Heart (5:40.6) with Manhattan another 5 lengths astern.

The Helen Long Memorial Cup for Varsity Open Fours again saw Fordham in control of first place, winning by more than a length of open water in a time of 5:24.0 over Iona (5:32.1). This race had a full field of six shells with Fairfield, Sacred Heart, Sarah Lawrence and Manhattan finishing third through sixth, respectively.

The Varsity Four B event also had a full field of six shells. Fordham won in a time of 5:30.0 over Sacred Heart and again by open water. Fordham's B Four had the second best time of all fours in the Helen Long Memorial Cup won by the Fordham A shell. Hofstra, Fairfield, Iona and Hofstra B rounded out the field.

For the first time there was a C event for Varsity Fours. Fordham again took first place honors and again by open water in a time of 6:00.0. Iona was second six seconds back just edging Maritime by one second with CW Post another 59 seconds back and Sarah Lawrence trailing.

The Frosh/Novice women's team also contributed to overall point scoring for the regatta. The Frosh/Novice Eight had a solid third place finish, behind Sacred Heart and Fairfield with the third best time of the eight shells competing. In the Frosh/Novice Four, Fordham had two entries. The A shell won their race in impressive fashion in a time of 6:12.0 with Sacred Heart second in 6:23.5, Iona a close third and Fairfield trailing. The Fordham B shell raced in a separate event finishing third behind the A shells from Maritime and Manhattan.

With the men's team also sweeping all varsity events in the regatta, the overall point scoring for the Fall Metropolitan Championships were as follows:

Total Team Scores 1. Fordham 149.0 2. Iona 113.0 3. Fairfield 82.0 4. Sacred Heart U 51.0 5. SUNY Maritime 41.0 6. Hofstra 12.0 7. Manhattan 9.0 8. Sarah Lawrence 1.0 9. C.W. Post 0.0

Below are the line-ups for all women's events:

Varsity 8 Caroline Gibbons Catherine Mascia Catherine Guisao Greta Fleischner Lauren Dickerson Ravelle Mohammed Stephanie Narduzzo Francesca Andrea Jen Daniels

Varsity 4 Caroline Gibbons Catherine Mascia Lauren Dickerson Greta Fleischner Catherine Guisao

Varsity 8B Christina Costa Katie Helmer Sarah Stoycos Nadia Abdul-Ghani Chelsea Berry Lis Knips Katie Hall Trisha Guido Nora Leahy

Varsity 4B Christina Costa Francesca Andrea Steph Narduzzo Ravelle Mohummed Jen Daniels

Varsity 4C Meg Schaefer Sarah Stoycos Katie Hall Chelsea Berry Lis Knips

Novice 8 Meg Schaefer Amanda DiPane Chelsea Becher Alex DeBlock Johanne Sterling Susan Nowak Sara Kugel Selene A Monica Stark

Novice 4A Meg Schaefer Catie Helmer Nadia Abdul-Ghani Alex DiBlock Amanda DiPane

Novice 4B Monica Stark Susan Nowak Chelsea Becher Sara Kugel Johanne Sterling