Oct. 31, 2007

Washington, D.C. - This past weekend Georgetown women's rowing took part in the Princeton Chase on Lake Carnegie in Princeton, N.J. Despite being scheduled to race in two events this weekend, awful weather conditions caused the cancellation of the Head of the Schuylkill in Philadelphia, Pa.

The Princeton Chase consisted of a three-mile course and opponents from other colleges and universities, mainly ones along the East Coast. The lightweight eight crew of Juliana Pugliese (Old Greenwich, Conn./Greenwich), Christianne Persenaire (Phoenixville, Pa./Phoenixville Area), Maria Lipperini (Collingswood, N.J./Bishop Eustace Prep), Alex Vezina (Tallahassee, Fla./Leon), Karin Bothwell (Boston, Mass./The Winsor School), Alexis Zink (Bethesda, Md./Georgetown Visitation), Morgan McGovern (San Francisco, Calif./Covent of the Sacred Heart), Samantha Miller (San Francisco, Calif./St. Ignatius College Prep), and Jana Piazza (Blue Hill, Maine/Phillips Exeter Academy) finished with a time of 15:52.225.

"The lightweights had a very strong showing in relation to Princeton, who had just won the Head of the Charles the previous weekend," said Women's Rowing Head Coach Glenn Putyrae. "If you compare the proximity of the times from last year's Princeton Chase to where we are this point in the fall season, then you'll see that we're gaining ground."

The women's openweight varsity eight consisted of Bevin Reilly (Philadelphia, Pa./Germantown Academy), Melissa Horne (Norwalk, Conn./Norwalk), Danielle Post (Bellevue, Wash./Bellevue Senior), Victoria Koke (St. James, N.Y./Smithtown), Christen Scanlon (Gwynedd Valley, Pa./Mount St. Joseph Academy), Carly Dierkes (Baltimore, Md./Roland Park Country School), Erin Carter (Winchester, Mass./Winchester), Meg Ginivan (Alexandria, Va./Georgetown Visitation) and Anika DeVolder (Tilton, N.H./Phillips Exeter Academy) finished 21st overall, ahead of several BIG EAST and Eastern Sprints crews.

"Considering the depth of this field (National Champion Yale, National Runner-Up Virginia, numerous other schools), I'm pleased with our progress," Putyrae said. "These were teams that last spring we were behind in terms of times. We're not quite there yet, but it's encouraging to see the progress this group of ladies is making."

Georgetown's had two varsity four boats finish in the top half of the Women's Open Four. The Georgetown "B" boat that consisted of Pugliese, Persenaire, Zink, Post and Scanlon finished in ninth with a time of 17:34.052. The "A" crew of Reilly, Horne, Lipperini, Vezina and Koke was 17th, with a time of 18:05.122.

Some of the ladies will be racing in the Novice Regatta this Saturday, November 3, on Lake Rivanna in Charlottesville, Va. The Hoyas will be competing against crews from George Washington and the University of Virginia.