A Triumphant Season for URI Women’s Rowing

Rhode Island Women’s Rowing won its third conference title in four years and competed at the NCAA Championship for the second straight spring.

Head Coach Shelagh Donohoe was named A-10 Coach of the Year for the second straight season and the sixth time in her career. Her team placed 21st nationally at the NCAA Championship.

Rhody’s Varsity 4+ team of coxswain Tory Bauer, Tinsley Copeland, Morgan Cody, Stephanie Erlacher, and Julia Fortin placed 19th in its flight. It was the highest finish ever by a Rhode Island boat at the NCAAs, held at Eagle Creek
Park in Indianapolis from May 31 through June 2.

At the May 18 A-10 Championship on Cooper River in Pennsauken, N.J., Rhode Island had one of its best performances in program history.

All three scoring boats won their respective flights, giving URI a sweep of the competition. Seniors Erika Pena, Allie Reilly, and Maddie Van Ummersen all earned A-10 First Team All-Conference honors, while classmate Katie Shattuck was named to the second team. It was the third consecutive year Shattuck was named to the all-conference team.

While this year’s team featured a big senior class (nine of the 23 URI rowers at NCAAs were seniors), there is a bright future for Rhode Island. First-year student Kat Gillies was one of 15 rowers nationally to be invited to USRowing’s Under 23 Women’s Olympic Development Program Camp, which will be held in Iowa City, Iowa, August 13–17.

—Shane Donaldson ’99