University of Massachusets Athletics
Rowing Looks To Defend A-10 Title This Saturday
April 15, 2010 | Rowing
April 15, 2010
HELPFUL LINKS:
Schedule of Events
Directions To Cooper River Park
A-10 Championship Records
2009 A-10 Championship Results
AMHERST, Mass. - UMass Rowing will compete in the 15th annual Atlantic 10 Championships on Saturday in Pennsauken, N.J. Massachusetts owns all but one conference title dating back to 1996, including the 2009 crown. The race will be held on the Cooper River, the same location as last weekend's Knecht Cup. Beginning this season, the Atlantic 10 changed the point structure of the championship. Only the NCAA Championship events, Varsity Eight, Second Varsity Eight and Varsity Four, will receive points towards the team trophy.
Trails for the Varsity 8+, Second Varsity 8+, Varsity 4+ and Novice 8+ will be held from 8:00 AM - 9:10 AM before the championship races in the afternoon. An awards ceremony will be held following the races at 1:40 PM, where medals and the Atlantic 10 Championship trophy will be awarded. Athletes named to conference teams will also be announced at that time.
Projected Lineup:
Varsity 8+: Samantha Schnoerr (coxs), Elizabeth Euiler, Chelsea Wakeham, Alexandra DiMatteo, Amanda Doolin, Katie VonZweck, Michaela Streitfield, Samantha Smith, Megan Rodgers
Second Varsity 8+: Carly Payne (coxs), Emily Boucher, Kelsey Schachter, Emily Grogan, Katelyn Allocco, Rachel Spielberg, Beth Paret, Megan Donovan, Ana Tocco
Varsity 4+: Molly Bogle (coxs), Jennifer Coyne, Jessica Stern, Meredith Kearney, Kathryn Kern
Lightweight 4+: Em Chiu (coxs), Amy Nash, Kimberly Patrick, Erin Stockman, Elizabeth Bempkins
Quad: Elizabeth Euiler, Chelsea Wakeham, Megan Donovan, Emily Boucher
Pair: Teresa O'Brien & Emily Hagan
Scouting the Competition:
• Nine of the Atlantic 10's 15 schools are scheduled to compete this weekend. Rhode Island, St. Joseph's and UMass are the favorites heading into the weekend after top-three finishes in each of the last two conference championships.
• Rhode Island took the A-10 title in 2008, defeating the Minutewomen 135-119. The Rams had a successful weekend against Bucknell and Kansas in the final tune-up before A-10's, with two Varsity Eight and one Second Varsity Eight win.
• St. Joseph's matched its best finish at A-10's last season with a third place finish. The Hawks took wins in the Varsity Eight, Quad, and Varsity Four Petite. Head Coach Gerry Quinlan was named the 2009 A-10 Coach of the Year. For more information, including the St. Joe's projected lineup, click here.
Checking the Forecast:
• Weather down in Pennsauken, N.J. looks to be favorable for rowing this weekend, with temperatures expected to range from the high 40's to low 60's. Winds are estimated to remain low throughout the day at under 10 mph, with only a 10% chance of rain.
Last Season At A-10's:

• UMass beat out 2008 champion Rhode Island, 141-117 at the 2009 conference championships. The Minutewomen took the lead after a runner-up finish in the Varsity 8 (6:46.8) and a first-place finish in the third event, Second Varsity 8 (6:58.3). They finished the day with five gold medals and four runner-up results.
• The Massachusetts Lightweight 4+ set a A-10 Championship record with a finish time of 7:51.90, nearly 20 seconds ahead of second-place finisher St. Joseph's.
• The Minutewomen also took first place finishes in the Second Varsity Eight (6:58.30), Novice Eight (6:58.50), Novice Four (8:23.30), and Pair (9:01.00).
• UMass had four athletes named to the All-Conference teams, which Airlina Burrill, Erin Kelly and Julia Richter on the First Team and Amanda Doolin on the Second Team. In addition, five Minutewomen were named to the All-Academic Team.
Last Time Out:
• UMass competed on the Cooper River for the two-day Knecht Cup Last Weekend. After a respectable second place finish behind Duke in the prelim of the Varsity Eight (6:56.06), the squad of Samantha Schnoerr (coxs), Jen Coyne, Kelsey Schachter, Alexandra DiMatteo, Jessica Stern, Samantha Smith, Amanda Doolin, Meredith Kearney, Megan Rodgers fell just short of the Grand Final after a third place finish in the semifinal, and instead competed in the Petite Final.
• Both UMass Pair boats reached the Grand Final, finishing third (8:16.27) and fourth (8:21.58). The boats were raced by Alexandra DiMatteo and Amanda Doolin, and Chelsea Wakeham and Elizabeth Euiler. Massachusetts also finished fourth in the Lightweight Four (8:12.02), steered by coxswain Em Chiu.
• The Novice Four, which competed in the Third Level Final, placed second in its race Sunday with a time of 8:37.83, while the Second Varsity Four also finished fourth (8:18.73). UMass had two boats in the Varsity Four, one in the Third Level Final and one in the Petite, finishing third and second, respectively.
• Massachusetts began to struggle during the middle of the second day, finishing fifth in the Lightweight Eight (7:35.46) and sixth in the Novice Eight (7:30.77), but the Minutewomen ended the day on a strong note with second place finishes in the Grand Final of the Second Varsity Eight and Petite Final of the First Varsity Eight.
Looking Down The River:
• The Minutewomen will host two events next weekend on the Connecticut River against MIT and Vermont. The Engineer Race will be held on Saturday while the Catamounts will come into town on Sunday for a 9 AM matchup.
• Next weekend will mark the final home race of the season. After the race with MIT on Saturday, UMass will hold its annual team banquet in the afternoon.
Boucher Finding Her Stroke:
• Rising sophomore Emily Boucher (Lee, N.H.) is quickly making name for herself on the UMass Rowing squad. Boucher finished first in the Single at last weekend's Knecht Cup, finishing with a time of 8:37.15 ahead of second place Duke. She finished second in Saturday's semifinals (8:49.37) to qualify for the final event. She has also raced in the Varsity Four at both Holy and at the Yankee Cup.
UMass In The National Polls:

• The Minutewomen were ranked No. 10 for the third straight week in the Lightweight Varsity Eight in the USRowing Collegiate Poll, announced on April 14. Also included in the poll was MIT at No. 7.
• UMass was also included in the cMax Rankings, dropping eight spots from last week's polls down to No. 45. Conference foe St. Joseph's checked in at No. 36, while Rhode Island sits at No. 20. Four other A-10 schools were also included in the weekly rankings.
Dietz Elected To National Rowing Hall of Fame:

• UMass Head Coach Jim Dietz was inducted into the National Rowing Hall of Fame on March 21 at Mystic Seaport. Dietz competed in two Olympics in the men's single in 1972 and 1976, where he finished fifth and seventh, respectively. He was also a member of the 1980 United States Olympic team in the men's double.
• As an athlete, Coach Dietz was a five-time member of the U.S. World Championship team in the 1x and 2x, and won a silver medal in the single at the 1974 Lecerne World Championships.

• Dietz won more than 30 United States national titles between 1968 and 1983, and 25 Canadian national titles.
• Dietz is the only rowing coach in UMass History, and has guided his teams to 13 Atlantic 10 titles and was named the A-10 Coach of the Year on seven different occasions.
20 Rowers Named To A-10 Commissioner's Honor Roll:

• Bernadette V. McGlade, Commissioner of the Atlantic 10, announced that 103 UMass student-athletes have been named to the A-10 Commissioner's Honor Roll following the Fall 2009 semester. Among those, 20 members of the rowing team were included on the list.
• To be an Atlantic 10 Commissioner's Honor Roll honoree, a student-athlete must earn a grade point average of 3.5 or better. The A-10 named nearly 1,200 athletes to this list.
• The Minutewomen were led by the junior and freshman classes, which had six student-athletes from each class, while the senior and sophomore classes had four representatives each.
