Oct. 14, 2011
Bronx, N.Y. -
Complete Head of the Housatonic Regatta Results | Complete Pope Island Regatta Results
The Fordham University rowing squad opened its 2011 fall season on Saturday at the Head of the Housatonic in Shelton, Connecticut, where the novice 4 placed third and the varsity 8 took tenth.
The novice 8 could have won the event if not for a slow start due to a slow boat in front of them. In the time trail race, the Rams started last with Fairfield in front of them. Since the course was using new timing technology the start of the course was narrow so the Rams couldn't pass the slower Fairfield boat. As a result, the Rams' time of 18:56.2 was the third best among the competitors, behind Yale (18:32.2) and Massachusetts (18:33.6).
But the novice 8 shell got its revenge the next day at the Pope Island Regatta in New Bedford, Massachusetts, where they won the event in a time of 19:00, 39 seconds ahead of the same UMass boat from Saturday.
"The Novice 8 boat has been doing great in practice and sometimes beat the varsity 8," said head coach Ted Bonanno. "I was at the halfway mark of the Head of the Housatonic and the way they were moving at that point I thought they would win the race for sure. But when they finished I found out about the slow start. I was glad they got to come back on Sunday and beat UMass,"
The other boats competing at the Head of the Housatonic on Saturday was the varsity 8, with the A boat placing tenth and the B boat taking 13th. Yale won the race in a time of 15:45.3 followed by Radcliffe A (16:10.9), Radcliffe B (16:19.9), Williams (16:21.7) and Yale B (16:21.8). The Fordham A boat's time of 17:43.5 was just over two second behind Radcliffe C but almost 12 seconds in front of the UMass A boat. The Fordham B crew covered the course in a time of 18:32.0, over 30 seconds ahead of the UMass B boat.
The Rams will next be in action on Sunday, October 16th as they compete in the Head of the Connecticut Regatta on Middletown, Conn.
