This past weekend, the Fordham women’s rowing team competed at the Head of the Schuylkill Regatta in Philadelphia, PA. The Rams looked to carry the momentum of their performance at the Head of Charles into their third test of the fall season.

Setting the day in motion just before noon for the Rams was junior Emma Lipinski and the Championship Fours boat, finishing 19th of the 48-team field with a time of 16:06.921. Head coach Ted Bonanno was exceptionally pleased with the performance of this, the third varsity, boat, as they were in a “championship event racing against first and second boats from other schools in many cases,” and placed in the top half of the field.

The Championship Eight boat, led by senior Brikena Prendaj, finished ninth in the Championship Eights with a time of 14:16.376, not the best of performances for the Rams, but more importantly, two spots and almost 25 seconds ahead of fellow A-10 competitor Duquesne University, a “key takeaway” from the competition with the defeat of the only other A-10 school in the field, according to coach Bonanno.

Fordham fielded three teams in the Club Championship Eights, one headed by junior Debra Chieco, the second by junior Elizabeth Berejka and the third by senior Grace Little, each finishing with times of 15:02.861, 15:11.128 and 15:36.353, placing in 15th, 17th and 28th positions, respectively. Coach Bonanno was especially pleased with the success of his third boat amidst a very talented field and felt as if there were “good performances,” although not exceptional, across the board. A positive sign for the Rams lies in the fact that many of the boats in Philadelphia were familiar faces from the Head of Charles, and this time, the Rams moved closer and even surpassed their competition compared to the performances from last weekend, a sure sign of development in the team over just a one-week period.

The Rams will continue to build on their races thus far with the conclusion of their fall season this Saturday, Nov. 2, at the 1969 Regatta on the Cooper River in Collingwood, N.J.