Oct. 26, 2004

Amherst, Mass. - The UMass women's rowing's varsity eight finished 24th in the championship race at The Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston on Sunday with a time of 13:07.918. It was the highest finish by any Atlantic 10 Conference school. George Washington was 33rd and Fordham finished 37th. The UMass Alumni boat was 40th in the race with a time of 13:48.751.

The varsity eight consisted of senior Faith Harkins (Marion, Mass.),junior Stephanie Hopf (Hadley, Mass.), senior Lea Jakobsen (Copenhagen, Denmark), junior Gabrielle Papineau (Ottawa, Ontario), junior Katie Berger (Amherst, N.H), sophomore Ellen Maskrey (Pittsburgh, Penn.), sophomore Hannah Brewster (Plymouth, Mass.), junior Catherine Gariepy (Lorraine, Quebec), and sophomore coxswain Kristina Ferraro (Columbus, Ohio).

"I think we are faster this year than we were last year," said Head Coach Jim Dietz. "We struggled a little bit in the turns or we would have finished better."

The UMass Alumni boat featured Hayley McGrath, Lizzy Boyle, Katie O'Brien, Carrie Hallstedt, Ellen Kilmeyer, Francesca Beaudoin, Anna Talucci, Kate Bonner, and coxswain Carrie Champigny.

The UMass Crew will compete at the Head of the Fish on Saturday in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.