Women’s Crew came back from winter training and began its 2017 spring season in Philadelphia, PA. this weekend with the Murphy Cup Regatta. Of the many notable individual races that occurred on the Schuylkill River on Saturday, the Junior Varsity eight A placed fourth and the varsity eight took home a sixth place finish in the Petitie final.
In the Junior Varsity eight A’s first heat, the team won by five seconds at 7:07.96, ahead of Temple, Villanova’s B, Loyola and St. Mary’s.
“Our [junior] varsity eight had the best result of all our crews and was pleased to win their heat over Temple who had bested them at this regatta last year,” said head coach Ted Bonanno. “They also had a strong final and were thrilled to drive past UMass who is consistently one of the top second varsities in the A-10.”
In the fourth heat, the Junior Varsity eight B’s finished fourth, behind UMass, Delaware’s A and Lehigh, at 7:58:97 and in the Grand Final, Fordham’s JV A finished fourth at 6:45:61 behind Penn, Navy A and Northeastern.
As for the varsity, the eight came in second in its heat at 6:45:12, behind Navy. In the petite final, the Rams placed sixth at 6:44:82, behind Drexel, George Washington, Wesleyan, Delaware and Bates. The Rams also ran a varsity four shell at the regatta, placing second in their heat at 7:55:01. A novice eight also ran in Philly, finishing third in their heat at 8:22:72 and sixth at the final at 7:47:08.
“Overall, we had a good season opener,” said Bonnano. “Most of our shells advanced from heats to finals and the two that did not had strong performances in their heats.”
While being positive, Coach Bonanno also had encouraging words for those who didn’t run that well.
“Our varsity eight posted a competitive time in their heat finishing second to Navy. Their final race was not their best but we are confident they will make great strides before our next regatta.”
The crew team has the next weekend off before competing for the Knecht Cup in West Windsor Township in New Jersey. The event will run on Saturday, April 8th and Sunday the 9th, and will take place at Mercer Lake.
