Swann and Costa Take Silver at Orleans Meet
ORLEANS, MASS. – Cat Swann and Nathanael Costa both took second place at the Orleans Sweeps and Skulls meet on Saturday as training continues for Massachusetts Maritime Academy Crew team in preparation for the New England Championships in a month. Virtually every rower had a season-high time as much of the squad competed.
Eight Maritime women rowed in the Women's 5000 Meters and second-year Cat Swann took second place with a 44:38 finish. Just under four minutes behind her was youngie Hana Haskell at 48:28. Three Chinese exchange students took part in the female competition, which was won by UMass-Amherst's Kate Dorsey at 35:47. Dorsey was victorious on the strength of her run as MMA's Swann had a superb 21:39.9 result on the ergs, more than 30 seconds ahead of Dorsey.
Costa had a superb run in the Men's 5000 Meters, finishing just over a minute behind University of Alabama rower Gareth Markel in the run portion of the competition. The junior rower finished at 36:06 overall, keep close with his D-I opponent, who came in at 32:50.7. The Buccaneers' Seth Lapriore and Jacob Awalt, both in their first year of college rowing, tied for third place at 37:17.
Maritime was represented by a whopping 21 rowers, only five of whom are upperclassmen. Co-Captain Brianna Caissie is the only senior on the squad, with Swann her female counterpart. Costa and Timothy O'Neill, also a junior, captain the men.
"This year's event was held in a new, larger facility—necessary to handle the increased number of participants over last year—and we had perfect weather for the run," remarked Head Coach Alex Machi. "Comparing their 500 meter splits to what they got in their 6k's last month, almost everyone improved. The only cadets who didn't were sick this past week and I specifically told them to go easy on both the erg piece and the run. So, it was a good indication of the success our training is having on preparing us for the New England Championships, which is only a month away.
On Saturday, the squad will travel to Beverly, Mass. for a meet hosted by Endicott College, one of four meets in the month of the April. In the meantime, bookmark www.mmabucs.com and get the inside scoop on Facebook and Twitter @mmabuccaneers.
Gabriel Fidler, Sports Information Associate