Queen's captured its fourth consecutive OUA women's banner, collecting 501 points to finish ahead of Western (394) and Trent (221). Ottawa was fourth with 208 points, followed by Guelph (151) and McGill (101).

The Gaels won five gold medals and two silver to secure the provincial banner.

McGill's top performance came in the women's varsity double, where Montrealer Sarah Birtulescu and Maria Fletcher of Vancouver, B.C., claimed silver in seven minutes, 29.25 seconds, just 3.19 seconds behind Queen's winners Abigail Cox and Julia Schuurmans (7:26.06). Trent took bronze in 7:30.71.

The result marked another strong performance for the McGill tandem, which had won the varsity double at both the Head of the Rideau in Ottawa and Head of the Trent in Peterborough earlier in the fall.

"Through challenging racing conditions today, our athletes showed tenacity and a pure desire to race and perform well, while enjoying every second of it," said McGill head coach Stéphanie Marchand following Friday's preliminary races.

"It was amazing to see all the good results and races today after two months of fall training, especially with the OUAs being the last race of the season for all our athletes who are not travelling to the Canadian University Rowing Association (CURA) Championships next weekend. We go (into Saturday's races) with 10 A finals, and I cannot wait to see all the performances!"

The Martlets also narrowly missed the podium in the varsity eight. Coxswain Olivia Saw guided Sarah Birtulescu, Lindsay Scott, Charlotte Baudin, Emma Nevala, Kaelin Vasseur, Molly Curd, Julia Milosz and Lily Dinwoodie to fourth place in 7:08.37.

Western won the event in 6:54.80, followed by Ottawa (7:02.97) and Guelph (7:03.69). McGill finished 4.68 seconds behind the bronze medallists.

Fletcher added a fifth-place finish in the women's varsity single, clocking 8:28.22. Trent's Tess Friar won in 8:05.65, ahead of Brock's Hailey Mercuri (8:13.36) and Guelph's Ceilidh Aho (8:17.33).

McGill was sixth in the varsity coxed four. Saw guided Lindsay Scott, Kaelin Vasseur, Julia Milosz and Dinwoodie to a time of 7:51.76. Queen's captured gold in 7:17.18, followed by Western (7:24.29) and Trent (7:27.56).

In lightweight competition, Marwa Benchabane won the women's single B final in 8:23.59, ahead of McMaster (8:26.97) and Guelph (8:44.87).

Benchabane also teamed with Charlotte Baudin to win the lightweight double B final in 8:07.54, finishing ahead of McMaster (8:11.33) and Carleton (8:42.46). Neither B-final victory counted as an overall championship medal.

Queen's Kaija Erickson was named OUA women's athlete of the year after winning gold in both the varsity pair and coxed four. Queen's coaches Scott Feddery and Kathleen Rankin shared women's team coach-of-the-year honours.

All gold medallists at the championships also automatically earned OUA all-star recognition.

Developmental regatta

McGill's novice and junior varsity crews competed Friday in the OUA Development Regatta, a separate competition held at the same venue. The event featured 1,000-metre races for novices and 2,000-metre races for junior varsity crews, with medals and points excluded from Saturday's OUA championship standings.

The Martlets novice eight, with Beatrix Smith as coxswain, finished third in the B final in 3:56.2, behind McMaster (3:53.5) and Western (3:55.9). The crew included Emma Zgenona, Paige Duncan, Holly Parady, Capucine Parvery, Claudia Llado, Arowyn Fitzpatrick, Tzeviya Keller and Adhara Collins Scholten.

In junior varsity competition, McGill placed fourth in the women's coxed four A final in 8:05.6, just 2.4 seconds behind third-place Trent (8:03.2). Toronto won in 7:59.2.

The Martlets junior varsity double finished fifth in the B final in 9:28.3, with Guelph winning in 8:56.3.

The championships marked McGill's third competition of the fall season, following appearances at the Head of the Rideau in Ottawa and Head of the Trent in Peterborough. The CURA Championships are scheduled for Nov. 6-8 at Fanshawe Lake in London, Ont.
 

OUA ROWING MAJOR AWARDS

Women's Athlete of the Year: Kaija Erickson – Queen's

Women's Team Coach of the Year: Scott Feddery and Kathleen Rankin – Queen's

Final Standings

Women

1. Queen's – 501

2. Western – 394

3. Trent – 221

4. Ottawa – 208

5. Guelph – 151

6. McGill – 109

7. Carleton – 81

8. Brock – 73

9. McMaster – 73

10.Toronto – 54

11.Ontario Tech – 40

12.Nipissing – 31

13.Waterloo – 28

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SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
Sports Information Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
CELL: 514-983-7012
E-MAIL:earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca