FARMER CITY, Ill. - MSOE women's rowing traveled to Clinton Lake in Farmer City, Illinois to race at the Illinois Collegiate Rowing Invite. The Raiders competed in the Women's Varsity 4+ and Women's Varsity 8+ events and turned in a history making performance by the time the day was done.

The Women's 4+ vessel fielded by Nicole Harris (coxswain), Monique Landry, Sabrina Lutz, Polina Vyucheiskaia and Katerina Flierl started out the day for the Raiders with a third place finish in the V4+ race, awarding them a spot in the Grand Final. 

Immediately after wrapping up that heat, the ladies moved directly into the Women's Varsity 8+ race, a boat that was fielded by Harris (coxswain), Landry, Lutz, Vyucheiskaia, Flierl, Grace BeBeau, Tiffany Dabrowski, Annika West, and Veronica Skinner. The Women's 8+ swept the competition beating out MSU, Wash U and Miami while posting the 2nd fastest time of the day at the same time. 

Unfortunately due to weather, afternoon racing yielded to very dangerous conditions on the water. MSOE's Varsity 4+ made the difficult decision to not race based on safety concerns and the remainder of racing across all classes and teams was canceled shortly after. Awards were granted based on times solidifying a silver medal for the Women's Varsity 8+. This placement was the first in program history for the Women's 8+ event, which is regarded as the most competitive event in collegiate racing. 

Coach Marissa Castello on the team's performance: "I am so impressed and absolutely thrilled with the team's performance today. Even though they faced a significant amount of adversity and modifications throughout the day, they were still able to come out with an incredible result and a much needed dose of confidence to carry us into the remainder of the season." 

The next race for the MSOE women's team will be the MARC Conference Championship in Occoquan, VA on Sunday, April 30th. 

For up-to-the-minute MSOE Raiders news, visit us at MSOERaiders.com. You can also follow the Red & White on Twitter @MSOE_Raiders and @msoe_raiders on Instagram.