HADLEY, Mass. (March 26, 2016) – Despite a cloudy, raw day with bone-chilling temperatures and grey skies, the Franklin Pierce University women's rowing team opened its spring season with several strong performances at the Amherst College Spring Invitational on Saturday.

The Women's Varsity Eight opened the morning with a strong, second-place finish in a four-boat field, consisting of two boats from Mt. Holyoke College and one boat from Massachusetts Maritime. The V8+, led by senior coxswain Mary Quinn (Erie, Pa.), along with freshman Kyra Fairley (Kingston, N.Y.), freshman Mackenzie Hitch (Oregon, Ohio), junior Nicole Rode (Thomaston, Conn.), senior Kasie Tucker (Bow, N.H.), freshman Marykate Cullinane (Medford, Mass.), junior Kirsten Salois (Pelham, N.H.), freshman Julia Canova (Avon, Conn.) and freshman Onyeris Lopez-Maldonado (Hyde Park, Mass.) engaged in a back-and-forth race with the Mt. Holyoke College first varsity 8+ for the first 1000 meters of the 2k course. At the midway point, Mt. Holyoke opened up a two-seat lead over Franklin Pierce, which it would expand for the next 500 meters.

With 500 meters to go, Mt Holyoke opened water on the Ravens and took first place with a time of 7:08. The Ravens crossed the buoys at 7:23, which was 28 seconds ahead of Mt. Holyoke's second eight (7:51) and 1:41 ahead of Massachusetts Maritime (9:04).

Later in the day, the Freshman Four faced off against Massachusetts Maritime and dominated the Buccaneers, finishing nearly two-and-a-half minutes ahead of MMA. The four, composed of Walker, along with Fairley, Hitch, Canova and Lopez-Maldonado, took the lead early in the race and never looked back, completing the course in 9:00.

Up next, the Ravens fielded two boats, a First and Second Varsity Four, against Massachusetts Maritime with both boats finishing well ahead of the Buccaneers to close out the day of racing. The First Varsity, led by Quinn and featuring Rode, Tucker, Cullinane and Salois, went wire-to-wire in the three-boat race, finishing 39 seconds ahead of their teammates in the second V4+, with a time of 8:21. The Second Varsity Four also had an impressive row, as it featured three of the athletes making their racing debuts, including freshman coxswain Hannah Eldridge (Whitinsville, Mass.) who faced the added drama of losing the audio on her cox box prior to the race. The four, stroked by sophomore Danielle Clarke (Fairfield, Conn.), freshmen Rebecca Davies (Washington Township, N.J.) and Shelby Telega (South Deerfield, Mass.), and senior Bailee Desforges (Bridport, Vt.), had a fantastic debut, as they were able to stay close to the first boat for the early part of the race and finished second (9:00), well ahead of the Massachusetts Maritime four, defeating the Bucs (10:33) by 1:33.

"This was a great way to open up the spring," said head coach David DeIuliis. "All of our crews had very strong performances and I couldn't be happier with the results."

The team travels to Schenectady, N.Y. next weekend, where it will face off against Union College, Amherst College and Johnson & Wales.

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).