MYSTIC, Conn. (Sept. 18) - UConn women's rowing opened its 2005 fall season at the Coastweeks Regatta in Mystic, Conn. on Sunday morning.  The Huskies competed in the Open-Four event, taking second and third place, as well as the Open-Double in which they took third and fourth place.

In the Open-Four event, Coast Guard took first place with a time of 7:44.0.  UConn team members Gabbey LaChance (Mystic, Conn.), Alison Elmo (Highland Hills, N.Y.) Stephanie Chivers (Dalton, Mass.) Brooke Grauer (Fairfield, Conn.) and Valerie Voorhees (Liverpool, N.Y.) followed closely behind in the UConn A boat, taking second place with a time of 7:49.3.  UConn B took third (7:54.2), followed by Fairfield (8:12.9), Coast Guard B (8:19.7), and Rogers Williams rounded out the field in sixth place with a time of 8:46.1.

"It was overall a successful day for us," said UConn head coach Jen Sanford-Wendry.  "We seem to always take second and third place behind Coast Guard in this event.  Though we were hoping to beat them, we closed the gap to within five seconds, which is the closest we've ever been to them."

In the Open-Doubles event, WPI came out on top with a time of 7:24.6.  The Blood Street Sculls took second (8:51.1), the UConn A boat finished in third (9:09.3), the UConn B boat placed fourth (9:17.7) and Coast Guard took fifth with a time of 9:34.9.

UConn races again at the Head of the Riverfront Regetta in Hartford, Conn. on Sunday, Oct. 2.