Pittsburgh, Pa. – The Duquesne University women's rowing team continued its 2025 fall season this past weekend by earning five medals in Fairfax, Va., at the Head of the Occoquan. A slight breeze in some parts of the river and a radiant sun, the Dukes arrived at the course ready for the windy 5,000-meter regatta. 
 
VARSITY EIGHTS
Launching first for the Dukes were two varsity eights, coxed by senior Paige Engel (Bow 151) and junior Serena DeCosmo (Bow 162). Both coxswains started the morning racing off well while directing their rowers through the turns of the river and sweeping past boats from Bryn Mawr, Virginia Tech and fellow Atlantic 10 competitor George Mason. Duquesne finished in fifth and sixth place, respectively, out of 17 boats. 
 
JUNIOR VARSITY EIGHTS 
Duquesne then entered two eights in the junior varsity category, coxed by sophomore Caitlin Langford (Bow 169) and junior Kat Muha (Bow 178). Featuring the same racing conditions as the varsity eights race, rowers from Langford's boat pulled away from their competitors to place third overall out of 11 boats, beating out High Point by three seconds. Starting last in the time trial style event, Muha's boat stayed internal throughout the course and beat four boats, including George Washington, Loyola (Md.), George Mason and Bryn Mawr to place seventh overall.
 
FRESHMAN/NOVICE EIGHTS
In the afternoon, the Dukes launched two boats in the freshman/novice category, with both finishing on the podium after placing first and third, respectively, out of 10. In Bow 264, coxed by Abby Berger, the rowers attacked the course and its turns while passing boats from High Point, Old Dominion and George Mason. Thanks to a solid race, the Dukes finished 52 seconds ahead of second place, earning Duquesne its first gold medal of the day. For Bow 270, seven girls completed their first collegiate race ever, including sophomore Rosalie Nicholas with her first race as a coxswain. Avoiding any first race jitters, the rowers stayed confident passing crews from Loyola (Md.), George Mason, Old Dominion and earning bronze. 
 
VARSITY/JUNIOR VARISTY FOURS
Later in the afternoon, the Dukes launched two varsity fours and two junior varsity fours to finish out the regatta. A large competition that featured 22 boats, the Dukes had plenty of rowers to chase down. In Bow 288, coxed by Engel, the rowers stayed ahead of the pack throughout the race, finishing in sixth place and just two seconds behind Old Dominion for fifth. Bow 302, coxed by DeCosmo, followed suit and finished in the top 10, passing crews from George Mason, Loyola (Md.), Robert Morris and more, earning the Dukes eighth out of 22.  
 
In the junior varsity four category, 14 boats were competing for gold. Starting first in the lineup, Bow 308, coxed by Muha, stayed ahead for the entirety of the race, leaving everyone behind and beating out High Point by two seconds for Duquesne's second first place win of the day. In Bow 310, coxed by Langford, the Dukes confidently held off every boat except one and finished strong in fourth out of 14. 
 
QUOTABLE
"On race day you learn a lot about yourself and the boats you are in," head coach Matt Carlsen said. "How do you handle where we are at in our training block? How do you handle new lineups? I think it's safe to say it was great lining up against some of our A-10 competition to end the fall head racing season. We need to definitely find a few more seconds to close the gap on some of the other teams we raced. It was an especially good day for the five boats to come home with medals. Big shoutout to our walk-on eight, as well, for winning a bronze medal in their first collegiate race. Now we shift our focus to this last full 20-hour week of training ending the week with our seasonal scrimmage at WVU."
 
UP NEXT
Duquesne finishes its fall season with a scrimmage against West Virginia in Morgantown, W.Va., Saturday Nov. 8. 
 
RESULTS
Women's Collegiate Varsity 8+: 5th (18:10.818), 6th (18:26.308)
Women's Collegiate Junior Varsity 8+: 3rd (18:31.063), 7th (20:16.281)
Women's Collegiate Novice 8+: 1st (19:27.228), 3rd (21:07.585)
Women's Collegiate Varsity 4+: 6th (19:43.090), 8th (19:58.313)
Women's Collegiate Junior Varsity 4+: 1st (20:25.187), 4th (20:58.450)
 
LINEUPS
 
Race                 Varsity 8                Varsity 8                  Varsity 8                     Varsity 8
Bow             Nicole Woroszylo      Dakota Psensky      Madison Lambert         Anna Dering
2                   Mikayla Bartos         Lily Armstrong          Isabelle Pilato             Keira Kusmaul
3                   Julia Serdinak          Jocelyn Tatarko        Emma Mills                 Olivia Martinez
4                   Sabrina Alcaro         Brooke Brindise       Ellie Knuth                  Amelia Nicholas
5                   Catie Duffner             Nina DiFonzo        Ella Kerrigan              Sydney Goodwin
6                   Danielle Smith          Katherine Zema     Sarah Hartzell            Courtney McCord
7                   Cherise Dicke           Reilly Tibbitts       Mateja van Gameren   Madelyn Strause  
Stroke          Nora Grace Foglia    Ella Hinchey        Margaret Osterhaudt     Morgan Kernan
Coxswain     Paige Engel          Serena DeCosmo     Caitlin Langford               Kat Muha
 
Race               Novice 8                      Novice 8 
Bow            Isabelle Pilato              Keira Kusmaul
2                 Madison Lambert         Erin Farr
3                 Dakota Psensky           Grace Sammartino
4                 Ella Kerrigan                Sydney Goodwin
5                Jocelyn Tatarko             Carli Reisinger 
6                Brooke Brindise             Violet Shaw 
7                 Sarah Hartzell              Rachel Behringer
Stroke        Morgan Kernan           Jonah Althof 
Coxswain    Abigail Berger           Rosalie Nicholas 
 
Race                    Varsity 4                   Varsity 4                Varsity 4               Varsity 4 
Bow               Cherise Dicke              Sabrina Alcaro       Nina DiFonzo         Lily Armstrong 
2                    Julia Serdinak              Catie Duffner         Katherine Zema      Ellie Knuth 
3                     Danielle Smith           Mikayla Bartos         Reilly Tibbitts        Mateja van Gameren
Stroke          Nora Grace Foglia      Nicole Woroszylo      Ella Hinchey        Margaret Osterhaudt
Coxswain      Paige Engel              Serena DeCosmo       Kat Muha             Caitlin Langford 

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