Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Patriot League Championship
Bucknell Women's Rowing Captures Seventh Consecutive Patriot League Title!
4/29/2012 8:00:00 AM | Women's Rowing
April 29, 2012
CHERRY HILL, N.J. (Cooper River) - The Bucknell women's rowing team continued its outstanding success at the Patriot League Championships on Sunday morning. The Bison claimed their seventh consecutive Patriot League crown, winning the varsity eight and varsity four races and taking second in the second varsity eight, totaling 34 points. Navy was second in the team standings with 29 points. Bucknell head coach Stephen Kish was awarded his sixth career, and fourth consecutive, Patriot League Coach of the Year citation, while the varsity eight was named Boat of the Year for the seventh straight year.
Bucknell and Navy are still the only two teams to win Patriot League titles. The Mids claimed the crown in 2005, the first year rowing was a Patriot League-sponsored sport. Since that time the Bison have dominated, winning seven straight titles. Bucknell has registered at least 27 points in the team standings every year since 2006 and has swept all three races twice (2007, 2009) and has won two races on four other occasions: 2006 (V8, V4), 2010 (V8, 2V8), 2011 (V8, 2V8) and 2012 (V8, V4).
The Bison varsity eight clinched the title for Bucknell as it posted its seventh consecutive win at the Patriot League Championships, finishing in 6 minutes, 48.54 seconds, nearly 2.5 seconds ahead of runner-up MIT.
The varsity four beat second-place Navy by more than 10 seconds to open up racing. It was the first victory at the Patriot League Championships for the varsity four since the Bison swept all three races in 2009.
The second varsity eight was aiming for a fourth consecutive victory at the Patriot League Championships, but crossed the line second to Navy by 4.29 seconds. Bucknell's time of 7:08.79 was nearly eight seconds faster than third-place Holy Cross.
"As a senior you really think about everyone that came before you and everyone that will come after you," said Bucknell's Jillian O'Mara, a four-year member of the varsity eight. "This championship belongs to all of them. Our coach told us last night that the best things you do in life are the things you do for other people and it couldn't be more true. Rowing is about how much you can give yourself to your entire team and that's what we did today. As a team, past, present and future, we won our seventh Patriot League Championship. Now we look toward the rest of our season."
Scoring for the events is done in a 6-5-4-3-2-1 order for the varsity four, 12-10-8-6-4-2 for the second varsity eight and 18-15-12-9-6-3 for the varsity eight, meaning Bucknell had to finish one spot better than Navy in the morning's final race, the varsity eight, to claim the title. The Mids entered the varsity eight event with a one-point lead on the Bison, 17-16.
MIT finished third in the team standings behind Bucknell and Navy with 25 points, while Holy Cross (20), Lehigh (9) and Colgate (8) rounded out the six-team field.
O'Mara became just the fourth student-athlete in Patriot League history to be a four-time varsity eight champion. She joined 2009 graduate Page Kannor and 2011 graduates Victoria Dudley and Carol Schoenecker.
Bucknell's senior class - Katherine Anderson, Alison Cohen, Alexandra Higbee, Christine Holodnik, Anne Kirk, O'Mara, Nicole Pilling, Emily Ralen, Hannah Rozowski-Vogt, Molly Schneider, Sarah Small, Hilary Strong, Caitlin Vogelsang and Katharine Watson - became the fourth consecutive group of Bison seniors to claim four Patriot League titles during their careers.
The Patriot League title for women's rowing marks the third for a Bucknell team in 2011-12. The Bison men's and women's track and field teams both won Patriot League Indoor crowns in February.
The Patriot League Championships do not conclude Bucknell's season as it will be in action in two weeks at the Dad Vail Regatta. Also ahead on the schedule for the Bison is the Eastern Sprints, Princeton lightweights and the IRA National Championship Regatta for the lightweights the first weekend in June.
Team Scores
1. Bucknell - 34
2. Navy - 29
3. MIT - 25
4. Holy Cross - 20
5. Lehigh - 9
6. Colgate - 8
Varsity Eight Results (Points)
1. Bucknell - 6:48.54 (18)
2. MIT - 6:50.96 (15)
3. Navy - 6:59.30 (12)
4. Holy Cross - 7:07.73 (9)
5. Colgate - 7:22.44 (6)
6. Lehigh - 7:22.89 (3)
Boat Lineup
Katherine Anderson (coxswain)
Amanda Chikowski (8)
Jillian O'Mara (7)
Alison Cohen (6)
Emily Gladstone (5)
Gabriella Fleming-Shemer (4)
Tatham Dilks (3)
Nicole Pilling (2)
Sarah Riessen (1)
Second Varsity Eight Results (Points)
1. Navy - 7:04.50 (12)
2. Bucknell - 7:08.79 (10)
3. Holy Cross - 7:16.44 (8)
4. MIT - 7:18.82 (6)
5. Lehigh - 7:29.91 (4)
6. Colgate - 7:41.44 (2)
Boat Lineup
Jacqueline McKeone (coxswain)
Gabriela Ors (8)
Christine Holodnik (7)
Annie Goldman (6)
Victoria Kielty (5)
Molly Schneider (4)
Hannah Lindgren (3)
Rachel Johnson (2)
Katharine Watson (1)
Varsity Four Results (Points)
1. Bucknell - 7:54.67 (6)
2. Navy - 8:05.83 (5)
3. MIT - 8:28.31 (4)
4. Holy Cross - 8:56.33 (3)
5. Lehigh - 9:41.09 (2)
Boat Lineup
Alexandra Higbee (coxswain)
Caitlin Vogelsang (4)
Hannah Rozowski-Vogt (3)
Victoria Catharine (2)
Hilary Strong (1)
