The women’s rowing team will compete in its first race of the season at the Ithaca Invitational Saturday. The Red has been ranked in the top 20 in preseason polls for the past three years, and it is ranked No. 15 in this year’s preseason polls. Under the leadership of senior captains Leigh Archer and Shelly Tremaglio, as well as head coach Hilary Gehman, the squad is looking to come out strong in every boat. The team aims to take its land speed and translate that to its boat speed to continue its season goal of posting a successful finish in the Ivy League Championship, followed by an invitation to the NCAA national tournament. “This spring, our focus is pretty simple: Go fast,” Tremaglio said. “Last year was Cornell women’s rowing’s best performance ever. We’re looking to keep the intensity high, be competitive in the Ivy League and hopefully gain another invitation to NCAAs.” The Red posted a 7-5 record last year en route to a fourth-place finish as an Ivy League team, second place finish as an Ivy League Varsity Eight and 13th place finish at the NCAA nationals. The team hopes that hardcore winter training will lead to an improved performance this season. Despite the cold, the team says it has been tirelessly and consistently practicing over spring break preparing for its upcoming races. “We had an awesome winter training season,” Tremaglio said. “We did a lot of hard work in the weight room. Our numbers headed into this spring season are better than they’ve ever been. We’re all excited about all the PRs but still cognizant that, in our sport, we ultimately prove ourselves on the water, not in the weight room or on the erg.”The rowing team looks to finish this week’s invitational as a start to their highly anticipated season this year. “I think the goal is to work out any kinks before our first official race against Yale,” Tremaglip said. “We’re hoping to use the race to prepare mentally for the rest of the season and to test our speed on our home course.”
Original Author: Marissa Velasquez