Lehighsports.com

ALLENTOWN, Pa. – Bolstered by first place finishes from its men’s and women’s varsity 8 crews Lehigh retained its hold of the River Cup as the Mountain Hawks defeated archrival Lafayette 76-50 in the annual event on Saturday at the Steiner/Steinberg Boathouse.  Other crews that captured first place finishes for Lehigh included the women’s lightweight four, second lightweight four and novice 4 and the men’s varsity 4 and novice 4.

In the women’s varsity 8 race Lehigh narrowly defeated the Leopards in an exciting finish with the Mountain Hawks crossing in 6:32.70 and Lafayette following behind in 6:33.00.  The lightweight four won its race in a time of 7:19.46, while the second lightweight four took first in its event with a time of 7:58.77.  The women’s novice 4 crossed in a time of 7:47.39 to defeat Lafayette in its race.

On the men’s side the varsity 8 finished in 5:32.71 to defeat the rival Leopard who crossed in 5:39.95, while the varsity 4 crew finished in 6:06,82, outdistancing Lafayette.  The novice 4 finished in 6:04.61 as it also took first in its event.

“I was very pleased to see our results from today,” Lehigh head coach Liz Meltzer explained afterwards.  “Our women’s varsity 8 crew had been beaten by Lafayette several weeks ago so it was great to see the speed we’ve picked up since then and that our young ladies were rewarded for their efforts.”   She continued, “I was excited about the men’s varsity 8 result as well, which allowed us to capture the overall River Cup, as well as the individual River Cups for both the men’s and women’s crews.” 

Meltzer concluded, “We’ll now turn our attention to the championship portion of our spring season beginning next weekend at the Patriot League championship followed by Dad Vails the week after.”

The Lehigh women will return to action on Sunday, April 25 when the Mountain Hawks compete at the 2010 Patriot League championship in New Jersey, while the entire Lehigh crew will be back on the water at the Dad Vail Regatta the weekend of May 6-8 in Philadelphia.

2010 River Cup Results

Women’s Varsity 8

Lehigh              6:32.70
Lafayette          6:33.00

Women’s Varsity 4

Lafayette          7:08.93

Lehigh              7:42.37

Women’s Second Varsity 4

Lafayette          8:00.46

Lehigh              8:12.53

Women’s Lightweight 4

Lehigh              7:19.46

Lafayette          7:22.18

Women’s Second Lightweight 4

Lehigh              7:58.77

Lafayette          8:14.25

Women’s Novice 4

Lehigh              7:47.39

Lafayette          8:00.27

Men’s Varsity 8

Lehigh              5:32.71

Lafayette          5:39.95

Men’s Novice 8

Lafayette          6:02.22

Lehigh              6:03.17

Men’s Varsity 4

Lehigh              6:06.82

Lafayette          6:18.82

Men’s Varsity 2-

Lafayette          7:26.87

Lehigh              8:01.86

Men’s Novice 4

Lehigh              6:04.61

Lafayette          6:13.92

Men’s Second Novice 4

Lafayette          7:07.71

Lehigh              7:18.16