Williams College hosting 11 top women from USA Rowing
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. - The Berkshires and southwestern Vermont host a number of visitors who love to ski during this time of year, but how many of those athletes have gold medals from the Beijing Olympics? Mary Whipple and Lindsay Shoop earned gold at last summer’s games with the USA Women's Eight, and both are here for a week of cross country skiing on break from their normal routine in Princeton, NJ, where the primary rowing training center is located.Whipple and Shoop and nine other top female rowers are guests of Williams’ Head Women’s Crew Coach, and newly named U.S. Junior Women’s Coach, Justin Moore. The elite eleven athletes are here for the on-snow experience. Many of the younger women were members of last summer’s eight that won a gold at the Under 23 World Championships.
Moore had been thinking about putting together a cross training camp for the U.S. Women’s Team for a number of years. “We live in such a beautiful area and it’s an ideal place to train outdoors if you love snow sports,” he explains. After working with Women’s Olympic Rowing Coach Tom Terhaar, Moore was finally able to identify a time for interested members of the U.S. squads to come and train. Working with the Williams Athletics Department and Prospect Mountain in Woodford, VT, Moore put together a week’s worth of training opportunities for the visitors. In the mornings, they either row on the ergometers or lift weights, before heading to the College’s pool. Each afternoon, they plan to head to Prospect Mountain for an afternoon of skate skiing.
“We love how welcoming the Williamstown community has been,” said Whipple, a two-time Olympian who won a silver in Athens in the Women’s Eight before leading her crew to a gold in Beijing. Whipple also said the athletes appreciated the Williams facilities and the ease with which they could get around to their various workout locations. “We hope to hit the local establishments when we have a break and when we’re not so tired” she added.
Moore echoed Whipple’s thoughts saying “This trip would not be possible without the generosity of the College and the members of the community. People donated housing, facilities, and personal skiing equipment to help make this experience possible. Many of these women would not have been able to afford to come to the Berkshires and train without such support.”
Ephs remain 3rd in NE Poll/ 7 ranked wrestlers/Cohen now at 115 wins
For the second week in a row the Ephs are ranked behind #2 Rhode Island College and #1 Johnson & Wales in the New England team poll.
Williams rattled off four impressive wins this past Saturday at Norwich, but it was not enough to lift them higher in the rankings. The Ephs' 15 wins are the most in the region and have come against a tough schedule, but the facts are they are still ranked third in the region. "It's not hard to understand why we're ranked third," commented co-head coach Dan DiCenzo. "We lost to Rhode Island College and Johnson & Wales has been ranked higher than us for a while, but we still have over a month to go in the season. Our goal is not to be ranked number one in the region now but to win the title of number one on the mat at the end of the season."
Two-year senior captain Ethan Cohen at 125 extended his all-time Eph record for career wins to 115 and now sports an overall mark of 115-34 in his three plus years. Cohen also owns the Eph single season mark for wins in a season – 34.
Three times Cohen has earned All-New England honors in his career and currently he is one of seven Eph individuals ranked this week. Cohen is ranked second in the region.
Sophomore Ryan Malo who started the year at 184 and has now found a home at 197 is 28-0 on the year and within striking distance of Cohen's Eph single season mark for wins. Malo is the top ranked 197-pounder in the region.
With Malo moving to 197 senior captain Kyle Ayer and sophomore Nathan Shippee have successfully dropped weight and are now competing at 184. This week the Ephs are not represented at 184, but that is likely to change in the near future.
Sophomore Corey Paulish is the other Eph who tops his weight class at this stage of the season as he is the leader at 141. Junior Carl Breitenstein at 157 is ranked second, while classmate Dylan Rittenburg is ranked third at 157.
A pair of sophomores round out the Eph ranked performers this week with Jon Foster 6th at 165 and Josh Mattana 7th at 133.
Saturday the Ephs will be tested again as they head to Hunter College in New York City to tangle with Hunter, NYU and The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) in the New England/Metro Duals. TCNJ is always ranked nationally and has had the upper hand vs. the Ephs over the years.
