Minutewomen Gear Up For Head of the Fish Regatta

AMHERST, Mass. - The Minutewomen will compete in The Head of the Fish in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. on Saturday, Oct. 29. UMass has not competed in this event since 2014. They had great success that year and look to do the same this coming weekend. The team will be entering three 1xs, two 2xs, two Varsity 8+s, a 4x, two Novice 8+s, and three Collegiate 4+s into the regatta.

Weather Expectations
The forecast calls for another rainy weekend of rowing. There is an 50% chance of precipitation and a high of 53 degrees. There will be a slight wind of about 10 mph.

Last Time Out: The Head of the Fish (2014)
The University of Massachusetts rowing team collected 13 medals, including nine first place finishes, at the Head of the Fish in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. on Saturday, Oct. 25.

In the Women's Collegiate 1x, the Minutewomen had a trio of competitors that took third, fourth and sixth place, respectively. Carly Zanatta, the top UMass finisher in the event, finished in 14:58.66 while Rachel Boudreau was fourth (15:07) and Lauren Azuela secured sixth in 15:34.80. The event's top finisher was from Marist College, and ended in 14:48.43.

In the Women's Collegiate 2x, the duo of Krysten Menks and Emily Mann took home first place honors with a time of 13:07.56, nearly three seconds ahead of the race's second place finisher from Ithaca College. The UMass pair of Leanne Ondreicka and Alisha Weinstein also finished with a time of 15:50.78.

The Women's Open 2- featured two boats from Massachusetts, and the pairs finished first and second in the race. The first place pair of Hallie Dunlap and Allanah Rubi-Mooney finished with a time of 14:22.88 while Maggie Curran and Annecy Smith crossed 12 seconds later with a time of 14:34.95. The two Minutewomen boats cruised to victory while it took nearly two minutes before the race's third place winner, NY Maritime, was able to cross the finish line.

The Minutewomen success continued throughout the morning as UMass picked up a second place finish in the Lightweight 4+, a first place finish in the Collegiate 8+, and a first and fourth place finish in the JV 8+.

The Lightweight 4+ finished with a time of 13:02.70, less than six seconds behind the races top finisher from Quebec's Dawson College. The quad plus consisted of Tanya Smith, Stephanie Giovenelli, Estefi Marti Malvido, Beth Kazimer, and Bridget Burke. The Collegiate 8+, who took first with a time 12:11.79, 14 seconds ahead of Williams College Boat Club, included Heather Pekarovich, Haley York, Pippa Edwards, Marika Kopp, Zoe Hill, Aiste Balciunaite, Sam Kolovson, and Natalie Boisvert.

The JV 8+ team of Haley Eovine, Boudreau, Hadley Irvin, Katherine Armstrong, Weinstein, Abby Norwood, Ondreicka, Curran, and Courtney Edson led the race with a time of 12:55.66 while the team of Abigail Raichek, Lindsey Brown, Sam Wonderlin, Leah Hitchcock, Alina Schmidt, Anna Sender, Carla Oberst, Elaina Falcone and Kathryn Wheeler took fourth with a 13:04.24 time.

UMass finished the morning events with another pair of first and fourth place finishes in the Novice 4+.

Even with a midday break, the intensity from the Minutewomen continued through Saturday afternoon as the team picked up four more first place finishes. In the 4x, UMass took first with a time of 12:57.34, more than 30 seconds ahead of second place finisher Tufts University. The quad was made up of Mann, Zanatta, Kolovson, and Menks.

The Novice 8+ team of Kelsey Anderson, Armstrong, Annecy Smith, Balciunaite, Hill, Charlotte Bleiler, Grace Bundy, Azuela, and Olivia Zelvis crossed the finish line at 12:54.81 while the second UMass team finished with a time of 15: 38.93. The second team consisted of Sofia Ordonez, Lauren McKim, Amy Wardner, Lauren Priess, Emma Hibbard, Sonali Khanna, Michaela Bish, Sarah Mempham, and Caroline Pellogrini.

UMass followed up with a first, second, sixth, and 14th place finish in the Collegiate 4+ event. UMass crossed first and second with times of 13:34.41 and 13:42.99, eight seconds ahead of Williams College, then took sixth with a time of 14:16.48 and finished off the event with a time of 14:38.00.

UMass finished the day at the Head of the Fish by taking first in the Lightweight 8+ with a time of 12:41.94, more than 50 seconds ahead of Tufts University. The Lightweight 8+ was made up of Tanya Smith, Dunlap, Rubi-Mooney, Menks, Mann, Giovenelli, Marti, Kazimer, and Burke.

Follow on Social Media
Fans can keep track of the Minutewomen on social media throughout the year via Twitter (@UMassRowing), Facebook (UMass Rowing) and Instragram (umass_rowing).

The Head of the Fish will be aired live on the link below. Feel free to check out all the action and cheer on your UMass Rowing team!

Live Stream Head of the Fish 2016

Scoreboard

Players Mentioned

Michaela Bish

Emma Hibbard

Sonali Khanna

Lauren McKim

Sofia Ordonez

Alina Schmidt

Annecy Smith

Scoreboard

University of Massachusets Athletics