In the open eight race at The Head of the Genesee, the Golden Griffins will compete against Buffalo, Cornell, Duquesne, and Syracuse.

The open eight will inlcude junior Kathleen Riley, sophomore Alexandria Dickson, junior Samantha Robinson, senior Hilary Hamp, junior Julia Roache, senior Bridget Wodowski, senior Hannah Ball, senior Krystyna Dross, and freshman Liz Daly, serving as coxswain

Scheduled to appear in the novice eight race along the Golden Griffins will be Buffalo, William Smith, University of Rochester, Geneseo, Union, Hamilton, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and SUNY Oswego.

The lineup in the novice eight will be junior Jenn Williams, freshman Meagan Hayden, junior Amanda Kielich, junior Jordan Hagenbuch, senior Jessica Leemans, freshman Shannon Tierney, junior Bridget Laszewski, junior Stephanie SanFilipo, and freshman Alexandra Haar as coxswain.

The Head of the Genesee will be give the Golden Griffins an opportunity to gain experience and to compete with no expectations, a sense of freedom.

"Just five weeks into our season, and into the life of our program, we certainly don't feel 'ready' to compete. But our student-athletes have shown day-in and day-out that they thrive on competition, and that they enjoy pulling hard. If we bring those two traits and mix in some control, it will be a great first race," explained Canisius rowing head coach Joel Furtek.

In its first season as a varsity program, the Canisius College rowing team will be directed by Furtek. His experience launching the varsity rowing program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1997 will be beneficial to the Canisius rowing program as it defines itself and sets expectations for the season at The Head of the Genesee.