MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – The Barry University women’s rowing team battled through the rough conditions all morning and posted a solid performance at the Head of Indian Creek Regatta to start the 2005 season earlier today. Angelique Ceccon and Jovana Djukic led the Buccaneers with a win over NCAA Division I Miami Hurricanes in the women’s championship double event.
“The doubles crew had a very nice row,” head coach Paul Mokha said. “Steering is always a challenge without a coxswain, but their speed was consistent and it resulted in a win.”
In the 2.7 mile race, returning CRSA All-American Ceccon (stroke) and Djukic (bow) rowed a time of 19:51.27 and finished 1.14 seconds ahead of cross-town rowing rival Miami’s A crew who finished with a time of 19:52.41. Miami’s B (20:12.13), C (20:21.95), and D (22.41.75) doubles crews finished third through fifth respectively.
“We thought heading into the race that it would be great to beat UM,” Ceccon said. “We wanted to prove we could compete against Division I crews and today we did. Our objective for the next race (Head of Chattahoochee) is to get even better.”
The doubles win was just the icing on the cake in a long day of racing at Miami Beach. The Buccaneers (Caitlin McGowan, coxswain; Ceccon, stroke; Djukic, Meg Denholm, Robin Cascioli, Hayley Robinson, Libby Lowe, Lyndsay Edmonds and Gurnoor Kang, bow) started the morning with a third-place finish in the women’s championship 8 event just 12.8 seconds behind the Miami A crew (14:48.79) with a time of 15:00.87. Miami’s B crew (14:56.91) finished second. The Bucs’ speed was good enough to finish ahead of conference rival Nova Southeastern’s A (15:25.80) and B (15:48.06) crews, which sets the tone for SSC competition.
Mokha said, “The 8 did better than expected because we hadn’t had that much practice time to prepare for the race, but the team came together in spite of that and did great. We have a lot of new people this year so we will turn our focus on critiquing our rhythm as we head into the bigger races (Head of Charles and Head of Chattahoochee) this fall.”
In the women’s championship 4 event, Barry’s A crew (McGowan, coxswain; Denholm, stroke; Cascioli, Robinson, Linsey Bierschbach, bow) finished third behind Nova Southeastern’s A shell (19:07.16) and Miami’s A crew (19:52.47) respectively with a time of 20.08.64. Barry’s B shell (Ivana Fredotovic, coxswain; Lowe, stroke; Edmonds, Kang, Chelsea Backus, bow) finished fourth with a time of 20:23.14, while Nova’s B (20:36.46) and C (21:34.05) crews rounded out the bottom six.
“This was a good building block,” coxswain Caitlin McGowan said. “However, we recognized areas that we need to work on before our next race. Overall, it was a good performance and we learned a lot from the race especially working with the rough conditions.”
Barry’s Lina Mizerek sculled the women’s single race putting on a solid performance, which could land her a spot in one of the Bucs’ other shells. “Lina had a good performance and keeps getting faster and faster. I’m hopeful that speed will translate into one of our 8’s in the future,” said Mokha.
Mokha added, “We fought strong headwinds and crosswinds all day, but those are always challenging conditions and we have to learn to deal with it. But, we had some good races to start the year and I’m pleased to have finished ahead of Nova in the championship 8 event. This was the team’s first regatta and we will build on this performance for the Head of the Charles and Head of Chattahoochee coming up in the next few weeks.”
The Buccaneers will be on the water way next in Boston, Mass. for their seventh consecutive trip to the prestigious Head of the Charles Regatta Oct. 23.