University of Massachusets Athletics
Varsity 8 Boat Earns ECAC Honor
May 01, 2002 | Women's Crew
May 1, 2002
AMHERST, Mass. -- The University of Massachusetts women's crew team's Varsity 8 boat earned ECAC Crew of the Week honors for the week of April 23-29 after capturing the Atlantic 10 title last weekend on the Cooper River in Collingswood, N.J.
Nine Varsity 8 boats raced in the heats and six qualified for the Grand Final. With a slight headwind and flat water, Massachusetts went off the line fast, but with a low rate, around 38 strokes per minute. Settling to a 31-32, the Minutewomen rowed a steady piece, with even splits for the first two 500's. In the second half of the race, the University of Dayton made a push, but UMass maintained a strong margin, winning by open water in a season-best time of 6:48.66, some 7.25 seconds ahead of second-place Dayton.
The UMass Varsity 8 boat of coxswain Megan Mastropolo (Old Tappan, N.J.), Lea Jakobsen (Copenhagen, Denmark), Sarah Pollmann (Hamm, Germany), Katia Prokopenko (Pskov, Russia), Colleen Banfield (Billerica, Mass.), Hayley McGrath (Florence, Mass.), Anna Talucci (West Chester, Pa.), Erin Cooke (Sinking Spring, Pa.) and Lauren Cromwell (Missoula, Mont.), captured the school's sixth A-10 title in the event's seven years.
In all, coach Jim Dietz' team won five of eight races en route to 44 total points. Massachusetts' five wins were the most by an Atlantic 10 team since the Minutewomen posted six wins in 1999. UMass boats which took gold include the Quad, the Novice 4, Varsity 8, second Varsity 8 and Novice 8-A.
Rhode Island enjoyed its best-ever finish at the Verizon Atlantic 10 Championship by placing second with 34 points. George Washington, which had finished second each of the last six years, was third with 23 points. Dayton was fourth with 22 points, followed by Fordham (16 points), Saint Joseph's (15 points), La Salle (12 points), Duquesne (eight points), and Temple (seven points).
"We were very happy with our effort last weekend," Dietz said. "It (winning the A-10 meet) is a tremendous accomplishment. I thought our captains (Cooke and Talucci) did a great job. They really stepped up.
"The level of competition within the A-10 Conference is starting to get stronger," he added.
UMass heads to Syracuse, N.Y., on Saturday, May 4, to face Big East rivals Villanova and host Syracuse.