The Alabama women’s rowing team opened its spring season with a win in a dual race against Eastern Michigan on Saturday. The race took place on Alabama’s Black Warrior River.
The two teams each set out for the day’s first race with four varsity teams with 4+ crews. Alabama junior Lauren Schneiderman’s crews crossed the finish line with a time of 10 minutes, 1 second and won the sprint race. The Crimson Tide finished this first race with first- through fourth-place finishes.
The next race was 8+ varsity crews, with Alabama winning and finishing with a time of 8:19 and another Alabama crew trailing 0.6 seconds behind.
“They’ve been training and putting in a lot of work, and to see them put that work into their racing was exciting,” head coach Glenn Putyrae said. “We saw what we wanted to see, which is all our crews racing really hard. It’s a good first step.”
The rest of the morning racing consisted of six 2,000-meter races, including varsity 4+ and varsity 8+ crews.
After all the races had concluded, the Crimson Tide came ashore to start its senior day. This senior day acknowledged nine seniors: Eleanor Alexopoulos, Raegan Beightol, Rachel Fuller, Ella Kemna, Reagan Labiak, Abby Pesansky, Elizabeth Struble, Michala Struble and Sydney Wenstrom.
Putyrae said the team’s seniors have had a huge impact on the program.
“This senior class has made an indelible impact on this team, as every senior class does, but this class has been through a lot,” Putyrae said. “They helped us make history, and they’re not done yet.”
In 2021, the team made history with a program-first NCAA championships appearance.
The team and the fans celebrated the home event of the spring season by distributing Alabama rowing souvenirs such as hats, keychains and posters featuring the team.
The Crimson Tide will travel to Oak Ridge, Tennessee, on March 16 and 17 to compete in the Cardinal Invite.
