10/21/2002

BOSTON, Mass. - The Georgetown women’s crew competed in the Lightweight Eight and Championship Eight at the Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston, finishing 12^th in a field of 24 and 35^th of 46 respectively.  Billed as the world’s largest two-day regatta, the Georgetown crews competed not only against other collegiate crews, but against U.S. and international clubs and national teams as well.

The better performance of the day was by the lightweight women who were representing Georgetown as the Hoya Boat Club in the Lightweight Eight event for the first time at this regatta.  Racing into a moderate headwind for much of the winding three-mile course, the Hoyas passed two crews without incident finishing in a time of 19:00.  Riverside BC (Mass.) won the Light Eight in a time of 17:25 and Radcliffe College was the top collegiate crew finishing second overall, 27 seconds out of first.

Although disappointed with their overall placing, the lightweight Hoyas raced very well in challenging conditions.  The experience of senior coxswain Caitlin Huntley (Bernhardt, N.Y./Nardin Academy) contributed significantly to the crew’s solid racing performance.  Coxing for the sixth time in the Charles regatta—four times for Georgetown; two times for West Side RC (N.Y.) before attending GU—Huntley steered her crew cleanly in a race notorious for clashings of oars and collisions between boats.

The openweight women, in contrast to the lightweights, raced unevenly in the Championship Eight.  The Hoyas began the race strongly, quickly closing in on the closest competitor but from there the quality of the rowing began to falter as Georgetown could not maintain the speed that positioned them to pass. 

Battling around the turns for position, the bow of the Georgetown shell crossed over the stern of the Rutgers shell and though the damage was minimal and no one was injured, the incident certainly did not aid the efforts of either crew.

Georgetown did manage to regain some of its rhythm and composure in the last minutes of the race as finishing in a time of 18:20.  The U.S. National Team won the Championship Eight narrowly defeating the Canadian Nationals in a time of 16:12.  Yale was the top performing collegiate crew placing third overall, 22 seconds out of first.

Assistant Coach Hilary Gehman also competed in the Head of the Charles Regatta, competing in the Championship Women's Doubles.  Gehman and her partner Kelly Salchow beat the field of 25 to finish with a time of 19:26.664, capturing first place by less than one second. 

The Hoyas look to improve upon last weekend’s performances at the Head of the Schuylkill in Philadelphia, PA on Saturday, 26 October.