Lady Pioneers send both boats to Grand Finals of Knecht Cup
Varsity 8 and Freshmen/Novice 4 will compete on Sunday

April 12, 2008
CAMDEN, N.J. — The Marietta College women’s crew entered two boats into the 2008 Knecht Cup, which takes place each year on the Cooper River. The Lady Pioneers entered a Varsity 8 and a Freshmen/Novice 4 into the competition, which featured over 50 crews from across the country. Both of Marietta’s boats had solid races and advanced to Sunday (April 13) afternoon’s Grand Finals.

The Varsity 8, which featured senior bow Meg Foraker (New Lexington/Culver Academy), senior Amee Epling (Parkersburg, W.Va.), freshman Lauren Yanko (Akron/Archbishop Hoban), sophomore Caitlin Piotrowski (Dublin/Dublin Jerome), freshman Katherine Thomas (Cheswick, Pa./Fox Chapel Area), junior Krista Tkacz (Egg Harbor Twp, N.J.), senior Amanda Chuderewicz (Allison Park, Pa./Shaler), junior stroke Anjouli Dapice (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Catholic) and sophomore coxswain Lauren Talasnik (Mays Landing, N.J./Oakcrest), joined 10 other Division III schools at the competition. The Pioneers finished second in their heat (7:07.7) and came through with the third fastest time of all 11 shells to advance to Sunday’s Grand Final at 12:10 p.m.

Not to be outdone, the Freshmen/Novice 4 advanced to the Grand Final by winning its opening heat (8:22.5) and taking second place with the second fastest time overall (7:16.8) in the semifinal of the event, which was open to teams of all divisions. Marietta’s shell, which included bow Miki Abitante (Columbia, Md./Atholton), Abigail Bogdan (Vienna, W.Va.), Megan Stuhlfauth (Hainesport, N.J./Merion Mercy Academy), stroke Yolien Peeters (Cranberry Twp, Pa./Seneca Valley) and coxswain Stockard Hyjek (Leetsdale, Pa./Quaker Valley), will look to win its final at 7:50 a.m. on Sunday.