SARASOTA, Fla. – The No. 4 Nova Southeastern women’s rowing team created a piece of school history Saturday, as the Sharks captured their first ever All Points Trophy as the highest scoring team at the 2012 FIRA Championships. NSU won a total of six races throughout a full day of racing. In addition to the All Points Trophy, the Sharks also won the Women’s Points Trophy.
Winning the All Points Trophy is an exceptional feat for the Sharks, as many of the other teams racing could derive points from both their men’s and women’s teams, NSU fields only a women’s team and therefore competes in about half of the possible events.
"It is a great day to be a Shark, and I am proud of the way the team raced today," said head coach
Mary Lenington following Saturday’s racing.
This season’s FIRA Championships were held at Cooper Creek in Benderson Park where the conditions were very rough with a strong cross wind that challenged all lanes equally and made for fair, but difficult racing.
The Sharks started the day off on the right foot, winning the FIRA Women’s Varsity Eight State Championship with a time of 7:15.2. Racing against six other boats, NSU beat out second-place Emory by 8.5 seconds and Florida by 9.6 to win its second state championship in as many years.
Racing for the Sharks was:
Caroline Kelly (So., Seaville, N.J.),
Taylor Van Horn (So., Cape Coral, Fla.),
Lauren Boudreau (Jr., Waterford, N.Y.),
Kelly Scott (Fr., Hobe Sound, Fla.),
Victoria Ciccone (So., Brigantine, N.J.),
Jessica Sutter (Sr., Key Largo, Fla.),
Alyssa O'Donnell (Sr., Ballston Spa, N.Y.)
Camille Evans (Fr. Orlando, Fla.), and
Mallorie Reinecke (Jr., East Amherst, N.Y.).
The Sharks’ junior varsity eight followed the varsity eight’s lead, securing another NSU victory. Crossing with a time of 7:40.5, NSU finished 20.5 seconds ahead of Florida and 38.5 seconds in front of Georgia Tech to win the three-team event.
On the water for NSU was:
Heather Clayton (Sr., Mullica Township, N.J.),
Emma Jordan (Sebastian, Fla.),
Caitlin Mooney (So., Centerville, Mass.),
Abbey Schiavo (So., Northfield, N.J.),
Megan O'Donnell (Fr., Lake Worth, Fla.),
Amanda Craig (Fr., Berlin, N.J.), Remi McClellan (Fr., Mullica, N.J.),
Kelsey Obringer (Fr., Port Republic, N.J.) and
Stephanie Hauck (So., Somers Point, N.J.).
Racing against some stiff competition and battling conditions that were becoming increasingly challenging, the Sharks’ double boat of Emily Harrington (So., Virginia Beach, Va.) and Christie McElhenny (Sr., Ocean City, N.J.) came in 12.2 seconds behind Stetson, who finished with a time of 9:50.5, for second place.
NSU’s women’s pair boat of
Sarah Patterson (Jr., Winter Park, Fla.) and
Dayna Triana (So., Homosassa, Fla.) rounded out the morning racing in impressive fashion, coming in with a time of 8:58.1 to capture the Sharks’ third win in four races. The Sharks crossed the finish line 10.3 seconds ahead of South Florida, who in turn just barely edged out third-place Georgia Tech by 0.3 seconds.
"The pair and the double had especially difficult races due to the wind and chop, considering there boats are so small,” commented Lenington. “Both crews were impressively calm and collected throughout their races."
Afternoon racing got underway in identical fashion to the morning, with the Sharks winning another race. This time it was the junior varsity four beating a pair of boats from Florida for NSU’s fourth win of the day. NSU won the race by a margin of 52.4 seconds with a time of 8:15.5. Racing for NSU was
Heather Clayton (Sr., Mullica Township, N.J.),
Caitlin Mooney (So., Centerville, Mass.),
Amanda Craig (Fr., Berlin, N.J.),
Stephanie Hauck (So., Somers Point, N.J.) and
Emma Jordan (Sebastian, Fla.).
The freshmen/novice four kept things going for the Sharks, picking up win number five of the FIRA Championships for NSU with a time of 8:12.0. The boat featured:
Sarah Erickson (Fr., Sunrise, Fla.),
Camille Evans (Fr. Orlando, Fla.),
Remi McClellan (Fr., Mullica, N.J.),
Megan O'Donnell (Fr., Lake Worth, Fla.) and
Kelsey Obringer (Fr., Port Republic, N.J.).
The final two races of the day for NSU featured their two varsity four boats. In the varsity four ‘B’ race,
Katie Dabrowski (So., Vero Beach, Fla.),
Emily Maines (Tampa, Fla.),
Christie McElhenny (Sr., Ocean City, N.J.) and
Deonnah Findley (Minneapolis, Minn.) claimed fourth.
The Sharks wrapped up racing on Cooper Creek with a victory in the women’s varsity four.
Caroline Kelly (So., Seaville, N.J.),
Taylor Van Horn (So., Cape Coral, Fla.),
Lauren Boudreau (Jr., Waterford, N.Y.)
Kelly Scott (Fr., Hobe Sound, Fla.) and
Alyssa O'Donnell (Sr., Ballston Spa, N.Y.) came away with NSU’s sixth victory Saturday.
The Sharks were also scheduled to race in the lightweight four event, but due to the necessity to share equipment and another race being delayed, NSU was unable to compete in the race.
Racing continues next weekend for the Sharks as NSU makes the trip to Oak Ridge, Tenn. to compete in the SIRA Championships April 21-22.
For the latest NSU news and results, be sure to visit
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clicking here. For the latest news, be sure to sign up for the Shark Alert E-newsletter by
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