DIANA SILBERGELD

Wesleyan women’s crew competed Saturday in the Head of the Fish Regatta in Saratoga Springs, NY.

By Allison Rovner
Sports Editor

Although women’s crew entered the Head of the Fish Regatta Saturday simply to end the fall season with one extra race, the team went home with an impressive finish and a fish head trophy.

The Head of the Fish regatta, held in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., is shorter than most crew regattas. It is a two and a half mile race, while most crew races are three or three and a half miles long.

The "A" boat produced an amazing second-place finish in the championship eight race. They finished the race in 14 minutes even, only 20 seconds behind Cornell University, who finished first.

The "A" boat was first among all Division III schools. According to Lindsay Watson ’02, the coxswain, Wesleyan beat Williams College by 16 seconds. Williams has consistently beaten the Cardinals this season.

"In races we look to see how we do in relation to other schools that we face in the spring," said Beth Emery, the head coach. "Finishing first in Division III is a nice way to finish the fall season."

The Cardinals had a neck-and-neck race with New England Small College Athletic Conference rival Bates College, finishing only one second ahead of the Bobcats.

"They’re [Bates] going to be working their asses off to beat us in the spring," Watson said.

The "A" boat was comprised of (from stroke to bow): Brooke Miller ’00, Erin Burchfield ’02, Julia Matsudaira ’02, Rachael Seevers ’01, Lily Goetz ’01, Mary Peacock ’02, Jess Sommer ’00 and Annika Hawkins ’00.

According to co-captain Katie Sanderson ’00, although the "B" boat finished 12th overall, it finished ahead of all other "B" boats across the line and beat some "A" boats.

"I think we did well. There were sections of the race that were better than others..." Sanderson said. "It was a shorter race, so the intensity was a little higher."

The rowers in the "B" boat were (from stroke to bow): Sarah Nolting ’01, Diana Kim ’01, Joanna Sickler ’02, Ruth Corley ’02, Aran Nulty ’02, Sanderson, Peggy Engelhardt ’00 and Maddy Goodkind ’02. The boat was coxswained by Bekah Friedman ’00.

The championship four boat finished 14th out of 24 boats. The rowers were (from stroke to bow): Diana Silbergeld ’02, Leah Ralph ’02, Ann Baum ’02 and Rachel Miller ’02. Friedman was the coxswain.

Besides rowing, many team members got in costume for the race. According to Sanderson, it is an unofficial tradition at the Head of the Fish for the rowers to dress up.

Members of the "B" boat dressed up as G.I. Jane and members of the four boat dressed up as Superman. The "A" boat did not don costumes but some rowers wrote messages on their arms.

The Cardinals were first-time competitors in the Head of the Fish. According to Sanderson, the race was not as official as other crew races. It was not covered by the allotted budget for crew and was less organized.