Fordham Lightweight 4 Wins Princeton Chase Title

Princeton, N.J. - The Fordham Rams set off to compete at the Princeton Chase and walked away victorious after finishing first of all lightweight women's 4 entries, a personal best for the Rams at the Princeton Chase.
 
There were seven entries in total from Princeton (4), Georgetown and UMass. In order to qualify as a lightweight crew, all rowers in the lineup must meet the weight requirement of under 133 pounds.
 
The Rams were driven by senior coxswain Rebecca Aviles, a native of Princeton, N.J. Having the opportunity to race on what are considered her 'home waters' is something Aviles has wanted ever since she became involved with the sport in her first year at Fordham.
 
"It was an honor to compete at this race especially with this group of girls" Aviles said. "We knew that it was going to be a challenge but we were ready to fight. Everything that we've done this season paid off when we found out we were the fastest lightweight four of the day."
 
Behind the oars we had Maura O'Donnell, Erin Parker, Leslie Fung and Holly O'Reilly. Parker and O'Reilly are in their first year with the Rams while O'Donnell and Fung are veteran athletes of the program.
 
The Rams entered and raced as a lightweight four at this event. However, the Princeton Chase combines the openweight and lightweight women's fours into one time trial. Finishing as the first lightweight crew in the event wasn't the only exciting finish to note as they finished 13th overall out of 30 women's fours in a time of 18:11.31. They competed against crews from Princeton, Georgetown, George Washington, UPenn, Dartmouth, Duke and Boston College.
 
The Fordham Rams will open their 2016 Spring Racing Schedule with the San Diego Crew Classic on April 2nd in San Diego, Calif.