ITHACA, N.Y. – It was a showdown of NCAA Division III women's rowing elite Saturday (March 31) morning on the Cayuga Inlet as three of the nation's top-ten teams went head to head. No. 3 William Smith College, No. 6 Ithaca College and the No. 9 ranked Marietta College Pioneers faced off on the 2,000-meter course. [Results]

In the varsity 8+race William Smith edged the Pioneers with a time of 6:52.58 to Marietta's 7:04.89. Ithaca finished a distant third with a time of 7:23.56.

The Pioneers sat coxswain Megan Oxley (Clarksburg, N.J./Allentown), stroke Abigail Klicker (Avalon Borough, Pa./Northgate), Hailey Ellis (New Albany/New Albany), Kelli Barnette (Parkersburg, W.Va./South), April Pendergrass (Bethesda, Md./Walter Johnson), # Ricci Davis (Marietta/Marietta)#, Trisha Wendel (Chagrin Falls/Kenston), Bridget Dean (Rochester, Minn./Mayo) and bow Alyse McNeill (Pittsburgh, Pa./Shaler Area) in the varsity 8+ shell.

Marietta rebounded with a win in the second varsity 8+ race. The Pioneers crossed the line in 7:21.40. William Smith finished second (7:29.50) and Ithaca was third (7:33.50).

The Pioneers' lineup in the second varsity 8+ was coxswain Laura Sterzinger (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Catholic), stroke Taryn Wilson (Clifton Park, N.Y./Shenendehowa), Alycia Kime (Sicklerville, N.J./Winslow Township), Kelly Moses (Lyndhurst/Brush), Stephanie Meinert (Pittsburgh, Pa./Fox Chapel Area), Erika Gill (Copley/Copley), Shannon Johnston (Arlington, Va./Yorktown), Katherine Tedesco (Upper Arlington/Upper Arlington) and bow Hannah Platt (Potomac, Md./Walt Whitman).

The Pioneers are right back on the water tomorrow (April 1) morning. Marietta will battle William Smith and the Rochester Institute of Technology.