PHILADELPHIA, Pa. (May 22, 2019) – The Franklin Pierce University rowing team wrapped up their season two weekends ago at the Dad Vail Regatta in Philadelphia on Friday, May 10th to Saturday, May 11th.

The race coincided with the graduation of the seven rowing seniors that were honored at the New England Rowing Championships. “The end of the season was unfortunately plagued with illnesses and injuries, shrinking our active roster,” said head coach Sarah Caruthers. “As we look forward to next season, we are grateful to our seniors and returning athletes who have put in a tremendous amount of work physically and mentally to send Franklin Pierce Rowing into an exciting next chapter.”

Pierce fielded two boats over the course of the two days. The junior varsity 4+ boat of freshman coxswain Emme Ostrander (Westborough, Mass.), senior Kaitlin Morin (Raymond, N.H.), junior Jess Buckley (Wareham, Mass.), freshman Alexandra Contino (Galloway, N.J.), and sophomore Katrina Wilson (Rindge, N.H.). The other boat, the varsity 4+ led by sophomore coxswain Allison Lashua (Templeton, Mass.), senior Shelby Telega (South Deerfield, Mass.), junior Katrina Grabeau (Nashua, N.H.), senior Holly Hay (Miller Place, N,Y,) and senior Sophia Alexandrou (Windham, N.H.) also competed on the weekend.

The JV4+ team took fourth place in the heat at 9:16.45 after starting out strong despite the tough conditions. They were in second place at the 1,000-meter mark when their momentum was stopped due to a boat stopping crab. They qualified for the JV4+ Petite Final on Saturday finishing their race in 8:03 with only one senior in the boat, they showed great promise this weekend.

The varsity 4+ grouping bested the University of Tampa by two seconds to bring home fourth place at 9:30.664 and advance to the petite finals. Due to two foot waves which led to an hour delay, the Ravens knew it was going to be a tough heat with some of the top Division II programs in the heat as they eventually upended Tampa. In the petite finals, the Ravens brought home sixth at 7:56 with three seniors featured in the boat.

For more information on Franklin Pierce Athletics, please visit the official website of Franklin Pierce Athletics (http://fpuravens.com) 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://fpuravens.com/store) You can also follow the rowing team on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/FPURowing/) and Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/fpurowing/).