University of Massachusets Athletics
Big Weekend On Tap For UMass Rowing At Dartmouth
April 29, 2010 | Rowing
April 29, 2010
AMHERST, Mass. - The UMass rowing team will head to Hanover, N.H. on Saturday for a matchup with Dartmouth, Cornell and Buffalo. The Minutewomen are in their final month of the season, and will face tough competition on the Connecticut campus this weekend. Massachusetts has boats entered into the Varsity 8+, Second Varsity 8+ and Varsity 4+ races, and has all seven of its seniors scheduled to compete. UMass is coming off two home races against Amherst College, and will head to the Dad Vail Regatta next weekend in Philadelphia.
Schedule of Events:
8:00 a.m. - Third Varsity 8 (Dartmouth vs. Cornell)
8:15 a.m. - Third Varsity 8 (UMass vs. Buffalo)
8:30 a.m. - First Varsity 8 (Dartmouth vs. Cornell)
8:45 a.m. - First Varsity 8 (UMass vs. Buffalo)
9:00 a.m. - Second Varsity 8 (Dartmouth vs. Cornell)
9:15 a.m. - Second Varsity 8 (UMass vs. Buffalo)
9:30 a.m. - Varsity 4 (Dartmouth vs. Cornell)
9:45 a.m. - Varsity 4 (UMass vs. Buffalo)
10:00 a.m. - Varsity 4 B (Cornell vs. UMass)
10:15 a.m. - Lightweights (UMass vs. Buffalo)
11:30 a.m. - Third Varsity 8 (Dartmouth/Cornell vs. UMass/Buffalo winners)
11:45 a.m. - Third Varsity 8 (Dartmouth/Cornell vs. UMass/Buffalo losers)
12:00 p.m. - First Varsity 8 (Dartmouth/Cornell vs. UMass/Buffalo winners)
12:15 p.m. - First Varsity 8 (Dartmouth/Cornell vs. UMass/Buffalo losers)
12:30 p.m. - Second Varsity 8 (Dartmouth/Cornell vs. UMass/Buffalo winners)
12:45 p.m. - Second Varsity 8 (Dartmouth/Cornell vs. UMass/Buffalo losers)
1:00 p.m. - Varsity 4 (Dartmouth/Cornell vs. UMass/Buffalo winners)
1:15 p.m. - Varsity 4 (Dartmouth/Cornell vs. UMass/Buffalo losers)
1:30 p.m. - Cornell Varsity 4 B vs. UMass Novice 4
Projected Lineup:
Varsity 8+: Samantha Schnoerr (coxs), Samantha Smith, Kelsey Schachter, Katie VonZweck, Katelyn Allocco, Alexandra DiMatteo, Michaela Streitfield, Rachel Spielberg, Megan Rodgers
Second Varsity 8+: Em Chiu (coxs), Emily Grogan, Beth Paret, Teresa O'Brien, Emily Hagan, Isabella Donadio, Kristin Jones, Kristen Gahagan, Allison Donzanti
Lightweight 8+: Carly Payne (coxs), Elizabeth Euiler, Chelsea Wakeham, Emily Boucher, Ana Tocco, Megan Donovan, Tory Gordan, Amy Nash, Kimberly Patrick
Varsity 4+: Molly Bogle (coxs), Jennifer Coyne, Jessica Stern, Meredith Kearney, Kathryn Kern
Scouting the Competition:
• Dartmouth is one of the Ivy League's perennial rowing teams, with its Varsity Eight entering the race with a 10-2 overall record, including a 2-2 mark in conference matchups. They will enter this weekend's race ranked 17th in the nation, according to the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association.
• Last weekend, the Big Green squared off with Princeton, Bucknell and Penn. Dartmouth's Varsity 8+ took second in its race in a time of 6:40.0, well back of Princeton in 6:25.6. Princeton jumped out to a fast lead in the race and had open water by the 500-meter mark. The Big Green tried to gain ground on the Tigers but could not, and instead found itself in a battle for second in the final 500.
• The Big Green Varsity 4+ boat also finished second to Princeton with a time of 7:50.20, while the Second Varsity Eight placed fourth in its race (7:03.80). The Third Varsity Eight fell to Bucknell and Princeton in the final race of the day, clocking in with a time of 7:38.40.
• Cornell comes into this weekend as one of the top teams in each of the EAWRC Polls despite a tough weekend against Brown. The Big Red finished second to the Bears in the Dunn Cup, but fell only behind Brown by 7.56 seconds, its best finish at the annual event.
• Cornell's first and second Varsity Eight boats each finished third behind Brown and Columbia with times of 6:37.6 and 6:44.00, respectively. The Big Red came away with its lone win of the day in the Second Varsity Four, finishing nearly 30 seconds ahead of Columbia at 7:45.80.
• The Buffalo Bulls are fresh off a CAA Championship from last weekend, while their head coach Rudy Wieler was named the Coach of the Year. The Bulls will come into Hanover, N.H. with the country's ninth best Lightweight Varsity Eight squad, according to the USRowing Collegiate Poll.
• Buffalo narrowly edged Northeastern for the conference championship, while the Bulls took the Second Varsity Eight and Varsity Four races, and placed second in the Varsity Eight. UB won the Varsity Four by six seconds (7:30.30), the Second Varsity 8+ with a time of 6:43.20, while finishing nearly 10 seconds behind the Huskies in the Varsity8+ (6:41.80).
Checking the Forecast:
• The forecast for Saturday's race look to be warm, with temperatures reaching above 80 degrees as the day goes on. There is expected to be a slight wind at 5 miles per hour with a 20% chance of precipitation.
Last Time Out:

• The UMass rowing team hosted two races last weekend against Amherst College and Vermont. The Minutewomen started the weekend against the Lord Jeffs on Saturday before completing the weekend with the Catamounts.
• Amherst College entered one Varsity 4+ boat into Saturday's races, but the Minutewomen were able to hold them off to take a first place finish. UMass ended the morning with several head-to-head races against one another.
• Sunday morning brought Vermont to the Connecticut River, and the Catamount Varsity 8+ surprised UMass by knocking off the Minutewomen by 1.6 seconds with a time of 6:42.20 while Massachusetts clocked in a 6:43.80. The Novice 8+ salvaged the day for the Minutewomen, narrowly edging Vermont with a time of 7:08.10, just 0.8 seconds ahead of the second place Catamounts.
Looking Down The River:


• Following this weekend with Dartmouth, the Minutewomen will head to Philadelphia, Pa. for the Dad Vail Regatta. The annual race is the largest collegiate regatta in the United States, with over 100 teams competing from the U.S. and Canada.
• The Minutewomen's JV Eight boat placed third overall while the Varsity Eight took second in the Second Final. The women's Varsity Lightweight 4 took silver in the Grand Final.
Four Minutewomen Named To Atlantic 10 All-Conference Teams:

• Following the Atlantic 10 Championships, four Minutewomen were named to the A-10 All-Conference teams. Samantha Smith and Megan Donovan were named to the first team, while Amanda Doolin and Alexandra DiMatteo were named to the second team. 

• Smith, Doolin and DiMatteo are part of UMass' Varsity 8+ boat that finished fifth last weekend at 6:54.04. It was the first All-Conference selection for Smith and DiMatteo while Doolin was named to the second team for the second straight season. Doolin broke the Novice 2K erg record in 2008.

• Donovan races in the Second Varsity 8+, which finished second last weekend at the A-10 Championships with a time of 6:49.91. She also raced in the Quad, which placed second (7:22.77) to secure her first All-Conference Selection.
Varsity Four Setting The Pace:

• The UMass Varsity 4+ has been pacing the Minutewomen throughout the past few weeks. The squad of Jennifer Coyne, Meredith Kearney, Kathryn Kern, Jessica Stern and Molly Bogle (coxs) finished first at the A-10 Championships. The boat also competed in the Petite Final at the Knecht Cup, racing to a second place finish. While the members have changed sporadically as the season's progressed, Kern has been the lone Minutewoman in the boat all season.
Boucher Finding Her Stroke:


• Rising sophomore Emily Boucher (Lee, N.H.) is quickly making name for herself on the UMass Rowing squad. As part of the Second Varsity 8+ at last weekend's Atlantic 10 Championships, Boucher helped the boat to a second place finish in the Grand Final with a time of 6:49.91. She also helped the Quad place second behind St. Joseph's (7:22.77).

• Boucher finished first in the Single at the 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 dropped two spots to No. 12 in the Lightweight Varsity Eight in the USRowing Collegiate Poll, announced on April 28. UMass had been ranked at No. 10 in the four weeks prior to the latest poll. Also included in the poll was Buffalo at No. 9.


• UMass was dropped a couple spots in the cMax Rankings No. 52. Weekend opponents Dartmouth and Cornell were slated in at No. 10 and No. 12, respectively. Buffalo was also included in the poll at No. 40.
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.
