SCHENECTADY, N.Y. (April 2, 2016) – Over the weekend, the Franklin Pierce University women's rowing team put together two first-place finishes in the fours events at Union College, including a 1-2 finish in the Varsity Fours and a first-place finish in the Freshman Fours.

For the second consecutive weekend, the Ravens fielded two boats in the Women's Varsity Four and, much like last weekend, the Ravens took the top two spots in the race. The First Varsity boat was led by senior coxswain Mary Quinn (Erie, Pa.), along with junior Nicole Rode (Thomaston, Conn.), senior Kasie Tucker (Bow, N.H.), freshman Marykate Cullinane (Medford, Mass.) and junior Kirsten Salois (Pelham, N.H.), once again went wire-to-wire in a four-boat race, completing the course with a time of 8:01. The first varsity finished 15 seconds ahead of their teammates in the second V4+ (8:16), and well ahead of Schenectady Community College (8:21) and Johnson & Wales (8:43).

The Second Varsity Four, comprised of freshman coxswain Hannah Eldridge (Whitinsville, Mass.), sophomore Danielle Clarke (Fairfield, Conn.), freshmen Rebecca Davies (Washington Township, N.J.) and Shelby Telega (South Deerfield, Mass.), and senior Bailee Desforges (Bridport, Vt.), held off a strong challenge from the SCC Royals in the final 250 meters to claim the second place in the event.

The Freshman Four faced off against Union College and Johnson & Wales, and once again put together a dominating performance, finishing 55 seconds ahead of Union College (8:59) and well over a minute ahead of the Johnson & Wales freshmen four (9:17). The four, composed of coxswain Eldridge, Kyra Fairley (Kingston, N.Y.), Mackenzie Hitch (Oregon, Ohio), Julia Canova (Avon, Conn.) and Onyeris Lopez-Maldonado (Hyde Park, Mass.) completed the course in 8:05.

In The Women's Varsity Eight, the Ravens were held off by Amherst College and Union College, finishing third in a four-boat field with a time of 7:14. Amherst claimed the top spot (6:55), with Union in second (7:07) and Johnson and Wales (8:43) finishing in fourth. The V8+ was led by coxswain Quinn, along with Fairley, Hitch, Rode, Tucker, Cullinane, Salois, Canova and Lopez-Maldonado.

Next weekend, the Ravens travel to Windsor Township, N.J. to compete in the Knecht Cup on April 9-10.

For more information on Franklin Pierce Athletics, please visit the official website of Franklin Pierce Athletics (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu). Also be sure to follow the Ravens through the Department of Athletics' official Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceRavens), its YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/franklinpiercesports) and its Twitter feed (http://twitter.com/FPUathletics). Fans wishing to purchase Franklin Pierce rowing apparel can do so at the Department of Athletics' online store (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store).