The University rowing teams won a pair of unofficial 2006 Colonial Athletic Association championships, with both the women’s varsity team and the men’s club team winning titles for the fourth time in the last five years.

Competing in the Dr. Thomas Kerr Cup on the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia on April 22, the women’s team amassed 51 points to defeat runner-up Drexel University and third place George Mason University. The Fightin’ Blue Hens won the varsity eights race and finished second in the second varsity eights, third in the novice eights and fifth in the varsity fours.

The winning varsity eights boat consisted of coxswain Kenna Plangemann, Lane Kohl, Elizabeth Carey, Laura Beaufort, Christina Stanley, Jess Kostick, Justine Strausser, Cathy Savarese and Nikki Jackowsky.

In the men’s competition, UD’s club team tallied 104 total points to outdistance runner-up Drexel, with victories by the varsity eight, lightweight eight and freshman squads.

The CAA rowing championships are unofficial because the conference does not yet sponsor rowing as a championship sport, and there is a mix of varsity and club teams.

Here are some highlights of other spring sports:

Lacrosse

The men’s lacrosse team finished the 2006 season with a record of 12-5 and reached the Colonial Athletic Association championship game, where the Hens fell 12-6 to Hofstra University. Face-off specialist Alex Smith was an honorable mention U.S. Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association All-American and a finalist for the Tewaaraton Trophy presented annually to the best collegiate lacrosse player in the nation. Junior midfielder Dan Deckelbaum led the team with 31 goals, while junior attack Cam Howard led the team in total points with 29 goals and 27 assists.

The youthful women’s lacrosse team finished 5-12, with freshmen Stacey McPartland, a defender, and Debbie Sloan, an attack, named to the CAA All-Rookie team. McPartland and senior midfielder Megan Hager were named second team All-CAA, and sophomore attack Casey McCrudden led the team with 38 goals.

Baseball, softball

Both ball teams reached the 30-win mark, with the baseball team finishing 30-24 and the softball team 33-24.

The softball team earned a trip to the Colonial Athletic Association tournament, where the Hens were knocked out in a pair of one-run losses to Georgia State University and the University of North Carolina Wilmington. Sophomore second baseman Allison Borchers hit .382 to lead the team and was named first team All-CAA and first team All-Region. Junior pitcher Carolyn Sloat, with 19 wins and a 1.85 earned run average, was named second team All-Region. Junior Michelle Plant and sophomore Barbara Traynor were named to the CAA All-Tournament team.

The baseball team, which narrowly missed a berth in the conference tournament, proved to be the Hammerin’ Hens and spent much of the season near the top of the NCAA Division I slugging statistics, setting school records for home runs (111) and extra base hits (275).

Four Hens finished the season hitting better than .300, with sophomore outfielder Brandon Menchaca leading the way at .395, followed by freshman infielder/pitcher Alex Buchholz at .378, senior shortstop Todd Davison at .357 and freshman infielder Kyle Davis at .328. Buchholz was named the CAA Rookie of the Year, and both he and Menchaca were named first team All-CAA. Davison was named second team All-CAA.

Track

Junior Chris Dixon led the men’s team to a sixth place finish at the CAA championship meet, as he won the 400-meter hurdles in 52.99 to earn an automatic berth in the NCAA Regionals. Also at the conference meet, junior Brad Dodson finished second in the 1,500-meter run in 3:51.24, with senior Sam MacKenzie third in the same event in 3:53.27. Junior Jared Wasser finished third in the shot put with a throw of 51 feet, 3.75 inches, and the 4x400-meter relay team of Frank Mancuso, Charlie Williams, Steven Jackson and Dixon finished third in 3:18.44.

Senior Casey Bennett finished second in the CAA pole vault with a mark of 11 feet, 5.75 inches for the women’s team, which finished eighth in the conference meet. Junior Rachel Young finished third in the shot put with a throw of 43 feet, 6 inches, while the 4x400-meter relay team of Brittany Wright, Michelle Gomes, Paula Green and Rayna Horsey finished third in 47.31.

Tennis

The 2006 season provided a number of records for the women’s tennis team, as sophomore Susan Pollack and freshman Amanda Campbell set a single-season record for doubles wins by going 22-6, and junior Liz Perlow became just the 15th player in UD history to reach the 40-victory mark. Pollack and Campbell were named first team All-CAA. For the men’s team, freshman Nolan Greenberg had an outstanding season, going 13-7 in singles.

Golf

Junior Joe McLister had another outstanding season and was named first team All-CAA after leading the Hens to a fifth place finish in the conference championship, the team’s best finish since joining the Colonial. He set a new UD record for lowest stroke average in a season at 72.85