April 18, 2009

PENNSAUKEN, N.J. - The Saint Joseph's women's rowing Varsity 8 made history by becoming the Hawks' first-ever champion in the premier event at the 2009 Atlantic 10 Championships on Cooper River. The Hawks' Quad also captured its first-ever gold to help Saint Joseph's take third in the team standings, matching last year's finish.

SJU's Gerry Quinlan was named the Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year for the Hawks' efforts. Debbie Bateman and Lauren Sysol were named to the All-Conference First Team while Colleen Greway earned Second Team honors.

The Hawks defeated UMass by almost five seconds in the Varsity 8 to capture their first-ever gold. The crew was comprised of: c- Andi Hartfield (Jr.), 8- Brianne Kammerman (So.), 7- Colleen Greway (Jr.), 6- Christina DiSanto (Jr.), 5- Debbie Bateman (Sr.), 4- Danielle Brady (So.), 3- Colleen Smith (So.), 2- Lauren Rozsits (Jr.), 1- Lauren Sysol (Sr.)

"It's very exciting for our program to win the Varsity 8. This is a tough league and a tough race," said head coach Gerry Quinlan. "It was a great battle with all of the crews in the final. With the tailwind we committed ourselves to get our bow out in front and hold people off."

The Hawks' Quad of Brianne Kammerman (So.), Debbie Bateman (Sr.), Danielle Brady (So.) and Lauren Sysol (Sr.) captured the conference title by outdistancing UMass by almost 10 seconds.

SJU's Second Varsity 8 took silver, finishing second to UMass by a narrow five-tenths seconds. That crew was made up of: c- Clare Burns (So.), 8- Tina Regan (Jr.), 7- Katie Herdmann (So.), 6- Ashley Wollman (So.), 5- Angela Acuña (So.), 4- Samantha Wilson (Sr.), 3- Liz Golden (Sr.), 2- Juliet Lee (So.), 1- Katie MacTurk (Sr.)

Saint Joseph's also earned a second-place finish in the Lightweight 4, with the crew of: c- Megan Cleveland (Fr.), 4- Tina Regan (Jr.), 3- Liz Golden (Sr.), 2- Ashley Wollman (So.), 1- Samantha Wilson (Sr.)

UMass won the team championship, with Rhode Island finishing ahead of the Hawks in second.