By DREW CASEY
STAFF WRITER
Over the past few weeks, the Fordham women’s rowing team has been hard at work preparing for the final stretch of its spring season.
Looking back prior to Easter break, the team competed in the Knecht Cup on April 12 and 13 in West Windsor, N.J.
The highlights from the central Jersey regatta came from the second varsity eight and the third varsity eight. Both boats placed third in the grand finals.
The first varsity eight placed sixth in its semifinal race, but crossed the line first in the third level final. The varsity four placed fifth in the petite finals.
Additionally, the novice four finished third in the petite finals, and the novice eight placed sixth in its heat. The Fordham lightweight four also defeated Princeton by more than 11 seconds in a 1500 meter dual race after formal competition was completed.
Less than a week later, on Saturday, April 19, the team competed in the Kerr Cup in Philadelphia and had a very successful day.
The second varsity eight headlined the day for the Rams, taking gold in a time of 6:24.52. The winning boat comprised Sossi Megan, Alexandra McDonald, Courtney Cambria, Kasia Wlodarkiewicz, Emily Mohri, MariaLuisa Capuano, Julia Barr and Jenn Amoroso with Megan Feerick as coxswain.
The rest of the team was not far behind the second varsity eight. The first varsity eight, the varsity four “A” boat and the novice four each finished third and were awarded bronze medals.
The first varsity eight finished with a time of 6:28.33, while the varsity four “A” boat crossed in 7:19.78. The novice four boat, composed of freshmen Kerry Egan, Austin Fimmano, Leslie Fung and Kelly Leonard with Alex Liard at coxswain, recorded a time of 5:12.67.
The team, especially the novice boat, praised the heat and final format of this larger regatta.
“When there is more competition, there is a greater desire to perform well,” Egan said. “You definitely get more racing experience at the bigger regattas, which definitely helps as a novice rower, since our boat is still figuring out what works best for us in a race.”
Following the Kerr Cup, the Fordham lightweight varsity eight was ranked No. 10 in the nation according to US Rowing for the second straight week. This boat is made up of McDonald, Amoroso, Cambria, Capuano, Megan Sullivan, Alison Furneaux, Maura O’Donnell and Caroline Sneider with Feerick coxing.
The team resumes competition this Sunday, May 4, at the Atlantic 10 Conference Championship on Occoquan Reservoir in northeast Virginia. With good results from the Kerr Cup in the back of their minds, the rowers are looking to perform well.
“To do well at the A-10s, the most important thing for us to do is focus,” said Leonard. “Rowing is such a technical sport, and distractions can make the difference between qualifying and not.”
The Fordham Ram 
