Lehigh opens season at Head of the Potomac
Posted: September 21, 2008
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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Lehigh opened its 2008 fall racing season on Sunday at the Head of the Potomac in the nation’s capital. The Mountain Hawks sent two crews to the event and competed in three total events. Lehigh had a strong showing on the afternoon, defeating every college it raced against on the men’s and women’s side with the exception of the host Georgetown Hoyas. “Overall it was a good way to begin this season,” Lehigh Director of Rowing Liz Meltzer mentioned. “We will take away a lot both in terms of what we did well, and what we need to improve upon from today’s races.”
The Lehigh women’s varsity eight finished third in the open race, with a time of 16:50.6, defeating crews from Georgetown and Thompson Boat Center along the way. Georgetown won the event with a time of 16:27.8. The Lehigh women then competed in the club eight event, and placed third out of nine entries, crossing in 17:07.7. The Mountain Hawks bested crews from Capital Rowing Club, American University, University of Maryland, Prince William Rowing Club, D.C. Strokes Rowing Club and Thompson Boat Center. “Our young ladies showed tremendous fight today,” Meltzer explained. “To compete in a pair of races which were so close together in terms of timing, and to produce these types of results was encouraging and shows the potential of our crews.”
In the men’s varsity eight open race, Lehigh finished fifth with a time of 14:24.6. The Brown and White finished in front of a pair of Georgetown entries, as well as two crews from the University of Maryland. Potomac Boat Club won the race with a time of 13:59.7. “This was a strong start to our season,” explained Jason Moorehead, Lehigh’s Head Men’s Club Varsity Coach. “”We competed against a number of top-level crews and showed what we are capable of.”
Lehigh is back in action on September 27 when the Mountain Hawks host a Brown and White dual at the Steiner/Steinberg Boathouse in Allentown.