2006-07 Season Preview

With seven members of the varsity eight boat returning and young rowers having success in the other Colby boats, the Mules are expected to be strong again for the 2006-07 season.

This spring the Colby women’s crew made the NCAA Division III Rowing Championships for the fourth time in five years. The women placed second nationally in the inaugural meet in 2002 and won the national title in 2003.

The Colby women’s varsity eight finished the season with a 13-3 dual race record, finished fifth at the New England Rowing Championships and sixth at the ECAC National Invitational Regatta, and earned an at-large selection to the 2006 NCAA Women’s Rowing Championship. The second varsity eight had a tremendous season, recording the highest finishes at the New England Championships and the ECAC National Invitational Regatta since 2003.

Katie Curtis ’06 and Valerie Friedman ’06 were both named to the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association’s first-team All-American team, making Colby the only program to place two athletes on the first team. The Mules also had four members of the varsity eight named National Scholar Athletes.

A Look Back: 2003 NCAA Division III Champions
The 2002-03 season was capped by winning the NCAA Division III Women's Rowing Championship--Colby's first-ever team championship in any sport.

The varsity crew won the Grand Final and finished as the top crew in the United States in Division III. The varsity earned one point for winning the Grand Final and the Colby junior varsity eight had nine points for placing ninth overall and third in the Petite Final. The Mules' 10 points (fewest points win) were two better than the University of Puget Sound's 12 for second place.

Colby's varsity crew won one of the two heats on the opening day of competition to automatically qualify for the Grand Final. Fighting 32-mile per hour winds in the Grand Final, Colby pulled away from the competition in the final 1,000 meters of the 2,000-meter race to win by about five seconds.

Colby's varsity eight crew included: coxswain Vivienne Ho '03 (New Britain, Conn.), Leah Hagamen '05 (Deerfield, Mass.), Emily Allen '03 (Washington, D.C.), Laura Mistretta '04 (New York, N.Y.), Annie Szender '05 (Seattle, Wash.), Leah Robertson '03 (Newton, N.J.), Andrea Piekarski '04 (Inverness, Ill.), Megan Loosigian '05 (Exeter, N.H.), and Ellie Boyce '03 (Haines, Alaska).

Colby's junior varsity crew included: coxswain Becca Reisman '06 (Cambridge, Mass.), Katie O'Neill '04 (Milton, Mass.), Caitlin Chamberlin '05 (Seattle, Wash.), Caroline Andresen '05 (Norwich, Vt.), Cameron Fisher '04 (Santa Rosa, Calif.), Sarah Dunham '05 (Flagstaff, Ariz.), Liz Johnson '05 (Richmond, Va.), Liz Shepherd '06 (Dallas, Texas), and Liz Curran '05 (Clifton Park, N.Y.).

Program Overview

Crew is the oldest intercollegiate sport in the nation and for almost 20 years it has grown in size and increased in speed at Colby. The College's crew rows on nearby Messalonskee Lake at the Colby-Hume Center. The center features a recently expanded boathouse and seven miles of sheltered water.

The Colby crew believes that a student athlete's education can be significantly enhanced outside the classroom. Our rowers accomplish this with the commitment they make to one another, to the team, and to the process of attaining athletic excellence. Through year-round training we maximize cardiovascular conditioning, muscular strength and endurance, flexibility, rowing technique, and psychological preparation. The combination of training and racing provides our students with a rich collegiate experience.

To meet their goals the crew uses the fall to redefine technique, create a base of fitness, and gain valuable racing experience. The winter schedule consists of indoor training crucial to success in the spring. In February the crews return to the water for the challenge of the spring racing season. Each weekend in April includes races against crews from across New England, including the New England Rowing Championships and the ECAC National Invitational Rowing Championships.

About the Colby-Hume Center

Men's Crew