Last weekend, the rowing team had to fight off the weather and its opponents to prove it can repeat last year's success after the previous meet's disappointment.
The defending Colonial Athletic Association champions traveled to Michigan and came out victorious in two races against Grand Valley State University. The Lakers defeated the Bulls the previous weekend to claim the Knecht Cup.
The Varsity 8 looked very impressive in Saturday's contest as they competed under unusual circumstances. With senior Lindsay DiCosimo out due to an injury, head coach Rudy Wieler put his faith in freshman Brittany Davidson. It proved to be a good decision as Buffalo ousted Grand Valley by almost eight seconds in the first race with a finishing time of 7:15.34.
The team had faith in Davidson and she made them proud.
"The young lady that we brought in was from the second Varsity 8 and she is a good physical athlete and had good testing," Wieler said. "The athletes were confident that she would do a good job and she did."
The second Varsity 8 continued the Bulls' success. Buffalo finished with a time of 7:19.45, besting the Lakers' time of 7:27.17.
The Bulls Lightweight team came in third place in a race against MIT and Simmons College in Boston, Mass. with a time of 7:19.77. Simmons won the race with a time of 7:07.73, while MIT finished in the middle at 7:12.96.
Weather conditions in Boston were not much better and it looked like the event was going to be canceled. However, the Bulls were able to compete with satisfying results.
The Bulls were less successful the following day when they faced Radcliffe in the Lightweights. Radcliffe scored a one-two finish to beat Buffalo's third place 8:45.9 finish.
Overall, the Bulls weekend was considered a success. Wieler feels that the team's performance last weekend will benefit them as they prepare for competition this weekend at the CAA Championships.
"We were all pleased that we got a chance to race and the fact that the kids reversed the results from the week before is encouraging," Wieler said. "We are the defending champions but we are not the favorites this year, so we're just going to go and see what we can do."
The Bulls will head to Virginia this weekend for the championship event. It will be hosted by George Mason University at Sandy Run Regional Park and is scheduled to start at 9:30 a.m.
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Photo: Ryan Hagen | UB Athletics
Photo: Paul Hokanson / UB Athletics
