SHELTON, Conn. -- The Fairfield University men's and women's rowing teams competed at the Head of the Housatonic on Saturday, highlighted by the women's novice eight third-place finish.

The women's varsity fours started the competition for the Stags with the two entries finishing 12^th and 15^th in the race. Mia Pallari coxed the 12^th place entry, and piloted the team to a strong finish. Last year, the Stags finished took nearly 40 seconds longer to finish the course a year ago, showing a great deal of improvement in one calendar year. The unit included stroke Lindsay Ryan, Sam Rosen, Christina DiCioccio, and Sam Kiersey.

The second entry endured equipment difficulty which hindered their ability to steer the shell. Susan Clancy was the coxswain while Mary Crowley, Mary Catherine Taylor, Jessica Keefe and Becca Bowes comprised the Stags entry.

"Susan deserves full credit for getting the boat down the course in as efficient manner as she did," Head Coach Dave Patterson said. "It took all of their energies us to stay the course. This was a good effort since the team was exposed to racing against powerhouse opposition such as Yale."

The men's varsity eight ran into tough competition in their race finishing their race behind MAAC rival Iona College. The Stags placed coxswain Michelle Mistretta, Greg Behrens, Dan Liashek, Chris Melcher, Alex Papa, Matt McDonagh, Steve Ligouri, John Tiene, and Jorge Espino in the race.

"I think this result showed our eight what needs to be done in order for us to be competitive against this level of competition as well as in the MAAC," Patterson said. "Fortunately, this happened in time for the team to turn this around for the spring season, as long as the work starts now."

The women's varsity eight had a similar showing as the men's eight in that it ran into top-notch competition. Yale dominated this race by placing all four of its entries in the top four places of the Division I results. The team also finished behind UConn, URI, and Sacred Heart in the race, placing the team in the second half of the Division I results. The team included coxswain Susan Clancy, Lindsay Ryan, Sam Rosen, Becca Bowes, Brianne Kouri, Mary Catherine Taylor, Lorna Baggot, Christina DiCioccio, and Lauren Lipyanka.

 "I think this was a disappointing effort," Patterson said. "But with the level of competition faced, I believe this gives us a way to measure where we need to be. We need to be more concentrated on our training so that we are prepared for this level of competition, especially when the spring season gets underway."

The men's varsity four was next on the docket, with the Stags placing two entries in the race. The fours turned in two of the better performances for Fairfield on the day. The A boat consisted of coxswain Kate Halloran, James Jessup, John O'Hara, Chris Melcher, and Ben Andrews. The B boat, which consisted of four student athletes who rowed earlier, was comprised by coxswain Michelle Mistretta, Greg Behrens, Steve Ligouri, John Tiene, and Jorge Espino.

"The B four was made of four tired student athletes who all competed in the eights race," Patterson said. "I think they put in a pretty good performance and met my expectations levels."

The novice eight ended the day with a solid performance, taking third place behind Fordham and UMass. The crew was comprised by coxswain Mia Pallari, Ameila Mazzola, Alexa Hoehne, Liz Connors, Kim Kesting, Caitlin O'Sullivan, Jessica Keefe, Jessica Curley, and Sam Kiersey.

"It's nice to see our novices having the fight to take on the competition like this," Patterson said. "If they continue to work hard and put in even more time in training, I think this group of freshman will have the opportunity to put Fairfield on the map of small school rowing."