Lehigh competes in Philly vs. 'Nova and Drexel
Posted: March 20, 2010
PHILADELPHIA – It was a solid day of racing for the Lehigh crew on Saturday as the Mountain Hawks competed against Drexel and Villanova on the Schuylkill River. The men’s varsity 4 won its respective race versus the Philadelphia schools while on the women’s side the varsity 8 put forth a very impressive performance against two strong competitors in the Dragons and Wildcats. Saturday’s weather was near-perfect for racing with temperatures in the 70’s and very light wind.
The Lehigh women’s varsity eight crossed in a time of 6:52.3 in its race, placing third behind Drexel and Villanova. The Mountain Hawks showed a significant increase in their time versus last year’s race against the two schools. In the varsity four Lehigh also crossed third as the Brown and White finished in a time of 7:58.8.
“I’m very pleased with our performance today,” Lehigh Director of Rowing Liz Meltzer commented afterwards. “We improved our time in the varsity 8 a great deal compared to this race last year against two strong crews. Drexel and Villanova have fast, powerful boats and this shows that the work we’ve been doing so far in the spring is moving us in the right direction.”
She added, “I’m excited to see how much more we can improve. We’re looking forward to hosting our first race of the spring next weekend and also to compete in a tough event in Virginia the following day.”
On the men’s side the varsity 8 placed second in its race with a time of 5:53.13, just three seconds behind Drexel, while the second varsity 8 also finished second to Drexel in its race. The Mountain Hawks’ varsity four defeated Villanova and Drexel in a time of 6:34.7 to claim first in its race and the novice 8 crossed in second place in its race with Drexel.
Lehigh will return to the water next weekend when the Mountain Hawks compete in two races. First up, Lehigh will host the Neuweiler Plate on Saturday, March 27 on the Lehigh River and the very next day the Mountain Hawks will head to Virginia to take part in the Occoquan Sprints.
Lehigh Rowing Preview