2024 Spring Season Recap

Womens Novice 4+ at the ACRA National Championship following their Silver-Medal Performance

Following a strong Fall showing, and a dynamic Winter training block, the team was itching for the chance to hit the water and showcase all their work. And I'm proud to say they absolutely did.

The team crawled out of the cave that is Winter Training with the Spring Break training trip to Lake Lure, NC where they completed two-a-days of practice and miles of rowing against the backdrop of the Blue Ridge Mountains. They culminated it with some local duels against other practicing teams to gear up for the upcoming races.

Shortly after, the team kicked off the regular season with our women's crews heading up to duel with Assumption College, D'Youville, and Bryant University. The WV8+ handedly won against the other teams with a significant open-water victory. The WN8+ competed in the varsity 8+ event and took home Bronze in their first ever 2k race. The day was capped with a Silver finish from our WV4+. Not a bad showing for "just a club."

The team then headed to the Cooper River in NJ for the first team-wide Spring competition. Unfortunately, weather would prove to be the ultimate competition of the race as everything was cancelled on Saturday. Weather would continue to be a factor on Sunday resulting in crews only competing against the teams in their flight without a progression in place. That said, the team still made the most of the opportunity with some continued strong showings. The full results were as follows:

MN8--- 2nd
MV4--- 2nd
MVL4--- 2nd
MV8--- 5th
WV8--- 1st
WN8--- 3rd

From there the team headed over to Coventry Lake for the Patriot Cup hosted by UConn and competed against Bowdoin, Boston College, UNH, and UMass. The team continued its dominance of the race with wins in the MV8, WV8, WN4, and WV4. All crews placed very well with the MN8+ in particular showing an exceptional last second sprint to grab Silver!

Championship Season

From then on it was Championship season as the team looked ahead to the Dad Vail Regatta and ACRA National Championships. This year the team had circled the date for Vails knowing the legacy the race had within URI Crew history. The team had won gold in the WN4+ in 2023 but had not found a win in the men's eights in forty years, and never in the women's eights. The goal was to get on that level again, and man did they ever.

Both the men's and women's 8's came out of time trials with the fastest overall time and the MV8+ won their heat with both crews qualifying for Grand Finals. The WN4+ also looked to continue the team's recent success and did so with a top qualifying performance in both heats and semi-finals to lock up their Grand Final Showing.

On Saturday the WN4+ kicked things off with a strong 4th place showing against a field of D1 varsity recruits. While off the official podium, they were the fastest club boat and showed they were going to be a favorite heading to ACRA.

From there the WV8+ would send off first followed immediately by the MV8+. The women took the lead quickly off the blocks and would never give it back. Despite a desperate attempt by Army to catch up, the URI W8+ countered them with ease and showed why they were the team to beat in this race. They held an open-water lead going into the last 500m and would come across in first for Gold. It was the first ever Gold medal for URI Crew in the W8 event at Vails. As the women were on the medal dock receiving their deserved fanfare and awards, the men began their race.

The M8+ this year really put the idea of 'fast' into their racing start, often finding themselves in first place off the blocks. Not quite the case this time as both Georgia Tech and Villanova came scorching off the blocks alongside. That didn't faze the Rams as they would climb into first and, much like the women just before, would never relinquish their lead. While GT made a strong move at the 1250m mark, the rams would counter it with a surge of their own into the final 500m. With the URI W8+ cheering from the medal dock, the URI M8+ would surge across the line in 1st place claiming Gold. It was the first Gold in a Men's Eight for URI in exactly 40 years following the 1984 Lightweight Men's Eight victory. Both of the 2024 crews met on the water following the races with well-deserved celebration and excitement.

And then there was one: ACRA.

The team would then head down to Oak Ridge, TN for the National Championships. URI once again boasted a strong contingent of athletes with seven crews entered. The races would span across three days with Time Trials, Heats, Reps, Semis, and Finals. A full boat posting is below, but these races were highlighted by showings in the MV4+, W2-, MN8+, and WN4+.

The W2- came into this race with no previous racing opportunity together and only had a few weeks of practice. With upperclassman Jenni Landeros and freshman Abbie Mitchell, the pairing would work to exceed any expectations at this race. They would do exactly that throughout the weekend, making their way through experienced boats and finding their way in the Grand Final. They would have another strong race in finals finishing with an impressive 5th place overall.

The MN8+ did something never done by URI before: raced at the ACRA Championship. The program's first ever showing in the novice men's 8 event did not disappoint. They would continue to show the grit found previously at Patriot Cup and would make their way into the Third-Level Final for a top 15 overall showing. A really strong building point for the team headlining into ACRA '25.

The weekend culminated in a highlight showing in the WN4+. The crew of Cassidy Haskell, Ali Asaff, Angelina Luongo. Norah Van Vranken, and coxswain Cody Pinsky would arrive in TN ready to show they were to be feared. After easily making their way through Heats and Semis, the boat would find themselves sitting ready to compete in the Grand Final. They knew they had a target on their backs following the teams event victory in '23, and had a strong boat to catch in WashU. Despite the pressure, they would send off the blocks smooth and ready to compete. While handling a strong surge from the field, they would push their bow out of the pack into 2nd place behind WashU. They would hold that position despite strong pushes from Chicago and Lafayette to cross the line in 2nd and receiving a well-deserved Silver Medal. They continue to show the women's club team at URI is a force to be feared and highlighted the team's best ACRA showing.

Full Team Results:

MN8--- 15th
MV4--- 10th
MVL4--- 10th
MV8--- 21st
WV8--- 8th
W2---- 5th
WN4--- 2nd (Silver medal)

ACRA would also feature All-American awards for the following members. Each of these All-Region members was one of eight men and eight women selected from the Northeast Region. All-American is one of 24 men and women selected from across the entire country. All-Academic required athletes be at least a sophomore with a GPA of 3.64 or above for 2nd-Team and a 3.84 or above for First-Team. Way to represent URI!

Shannon Gerspach: ACRA All-American & All-Region Teams
Atticus Makuch: ACRA All-Region Team
Billy Bourke: ACRA All-Region Team
Caroline Creamer: ACRA All-Region Team
Carly Tier: ACRA All-Region Team
Nick Kaplan: ACRA First-Team All-Academic
Logan Bukowski: ACRA First-Team All-Academic
John Butler-Basner: ACRA First-Team All-Academic
Alison Asaff: ACRA Second-Team All-Academic
Gabriel Stradtman: ACRA Second-Team All-Academic
Claire Swenson: ACRA Second-Team All-Academic

Thank you to all our supporters and alumni for helping make this another exceptional season. The team cannot express our gratitude to everyone who makes this thing possible. Go Rhodey!