By Lindsay Regruto

Senior Writer

The women’s rowing team had a strong showing at the Occoquan Sprints on Sunday in Fairfax, Va. with all three varsity eight boats placing in the top seven, another varsity eight boat taking fourth in its final and a novice eight boat taking first in its finals. 

“In the grand final, the varsity eight were in lanes one and two racing right next to each other just like every morning,” Christy Holodnik ’12 said. “Every morning the two boats push each other to be faster … and that is exactly what happened during the final.”

Two of the varsity eight boats with coxswains Jacqueline McKeone ’13 and Alexandra Higbee ’12 finished second and third respectively in the second heat of the competition while the third varsity eight boat with coxswain Katherine Anderson ’12 pulled out a first place finish in the third heat. McKeone’s and Anderson’s boats advanced to the final and took third and fourth respectively. The third varsity eight boat (cox: Higbee) advanced to the petite final taking first over Georgetown by almost five seconds to place seventh overall.

The second varsity eight boat took third in its heat and finished fourth in the final of its division. The Bison also had a strong showing in the novice eight with its boat taking first in its heat by seven seconds over Old Dominion. The novice eight boat continued to the final, beating out Delaware for first by about eight seconds.

“[We] had an exciting showing this past weekend,” Ally Cohen ’12 said. “All of our boats held their own against some tough competition.  We are looking forward to races to come and are excited to keep getting faster.”

The Bison will host Drexel and the Princeton Lightweights on Saturday at 8 a.m.