A second place finish from the Varsity Eight highlighted the Head of the Tonawanda for the Canisius College rowing team on Sunday morning.

The Varsity Eight finished the course in 19:09, second to Buffalo who finished in 18:26. Canisius' Varsity Eight was followed by Buffalo's Second Varsity Eight, the Canisius Second Varsity Eight and Buffalo's Third Varsity Eight in succession.

The Griffs' Varsity Eight included junior Liz Reinwald, sophomore Nora Kennon, sophomore Corrine Kickel, sophomore Julie Sciandra, senior Liz McKinney, senior Amanda Kielich, senior Allison Braun, senior Bridget Laszweski, and sophomore coxswain Hannah Blum.

"I'm extremely pleased with the way our women performed today,” said head coach Joel Furtek. “They rebounded from yesterday's lackluster performance and came out ready for the big speed we knew that Buffalo would bring -- they're only going to get faster under Coach Calfo.” 

The Griffs' Second Varsity Eight completed the course in 19:59. The Second Varsity Eight was made up of sophomore Megan Walsh, freshman Erin Grim, freshman Jenni Vinci, freshman Amber Giambone, freshman Mikaela Braun, junior Libby Chentfant, freshman Liz Delbarba, senior Meghan Martin, and sophomore coxswain Jordan Bamrick.

“Both boats pressed hard off the line and kept the hammer down for 5k,” Furtek said. “We can certainly find things to do better, and more time in lineups will help us smooth things out, but the team delivered exactly what I asked from them.  We can all take this sunny afternoon to enjoy the results from good hard racing.”

The Blue and Gold will return to action on Saturday, Oct. 5 at the Head of the Genessee in Rochester, N.Y.