April 7, 2008

Washington, D.C. - Georgetown Women's Crew participated in the George Mason Invitational this past Sunday at the Occoquan Reservoir in Fairfax, Va. The Hoya lightweights had an outstanding day, competing and winning against varsity crews from George Washington, George Mason and Dayton. The Georgetown openweights split their races, defeating George Mason and losing to Bucknell. The GU lightweights were the only lightweight crews competing in the event.

The GU lightweights defeated varsity crews from George Washington, George Mason and Dayton while dropping a close race to Bucknell's openweights. The boats consisted of Katharine Thompson, Laura Donaldson, Alex Vezina, Madeline Sarason, Alexis Zink, Maria Lipperini, Christianne Persenaire and Kristin Jasiukiewicz. "I was impressed with the way our lightweights performed this weekend," Head Coach Glenn Putyrae said. "We were the only school to bring a lightweight crew and they performed well against the varsity boats the competed against."

The varsity openweights split their races on the day, losing to Bucknell but defeating George Mason. The Hoyas who raced against Bucknell were Bevin Reilly, Victoria Koke, Christen Scanlon, Danielle Post, Kaitlin Roe, Erin Carter, Meg Ginivan, Carly Dierkes and Melissa Horne. The boat that competed against GMU was Reilly, Koke, Scanlon, Post, Horne, Ginivan, Roe, Carter and Anika DeVolder.

The novice lightweights (Kateryna Christian, Hannah Kittel, Jennifer Young, Helen Burdett, Margi Emhof, Ali McLaughlin, Althea Smith, Siobhan McIntosh and Lara Ericson) beat Bucknell but lost to George Washington, while the novice openweights (Amy Parks, Claire Mongeau, Kate Voss, Sydnei Tolefree, JJ Fritz, Brett Powers, Lauren Viehbacher, Amy Tenet and Katie Radaeva) dropped races to Bucknell and George Mason.

"It was a great day to race and we had excellent conditions," said Putyrae. "I'm pleased that we came away with some wins today but we're still learning and it's a growth process for us."