Posted: 04/15/2012
CAMDEN, N.J. - The Lehigh rowing team wrapped up a strong weekend at the Knecht Cup with a pair of strong finishes in the Women’s Freshmen Eight and Men’s Varsity Eight. The Mountain Hawks’ crews finished second and third, respectively, in the Petite Finals of a very talented and deep regatta. Lehigh now turns its attention to the River Cup next Saturday on the Lehigh River in Allentown.
“For the varsity men to go from not making the semifinal last year to this year making the Petite Final, they’re making huge strides,” said Lehigh head coach Brian Conley. “When a crew does that, it gives the program a huge step and helps bring other crews with them. Also, the freshmen women doing what they did gives so much hope for the future of the program.”
“Other than the two great results that we had, the other crews had mixed races,” Conley continued. “But despite the [strong] competition, we rose to the occasion.”
The Women’s Freshmen Eight finished second in its initial heat on Saturday with a time of 7:25.39. The crew went on to place fourth in the semifinals that evening, narrowly missing out on the Grand Finals. The Mountain Hawks went on to post their best time of the weekend in the Petite Finals, finishing in 7:12.18 which was good for second place.
The Men’s Varsity Eight placed third in its initial heat (6:06.51) before finishing fourth in the semifinals (6:04.90), less than three seconds from qualifying for the Grand Finals. The squad then placed third in the Petite Finals, with a time of 6:01.82.
A number of other boats also competed for Lehigh as the Women’s Varsity Four came in fifth (8:55.94), Women’s Varsity Eight fifth (7:16.14), Men’s Second Varsity Eight fifth (6:54.36) and Men’s Freshmen Eight fifth (6:47.51). It was a great opportunity to row against some of the top crews in the nation.
“I think when you race up, you’re always forced to perform a little bit better than you expect to,” said Conley. “Well-trained crews will rise to the occasions. We had a couple crews that learned and did just that.”
Lehigh will return to action Saturday morning when it hosts Lafayette for the River Cup.
“I know this is the race the whole team’s been looking forward to,” said Conley. “The women have been getting better and better the past few years. For the men, losing to Lafayette last year, they want to get a little redemption.”
Lehigh’s Results (in order of events)
Women’s Varsity Four
HEAT 5 Sat, 8:10
1. UMass: 7:51.70
2. Philadelphia: 8:02.78
3. North Carolina: 8:07.12
4. Colgate: 8:23.37
5. Lehigh: 8:55.94
Women’s Varsity Eight
HEAT 6 Sat, 11:40
1. Boston College: 6:45.98
2. West Virginia: 6:48.61
3. Delaware: 6:51.09
4. Kansas: 7:07.79
5. Lehigh: 7:16.14
6. Fairfield: 7:33.23
Men’s Varsity Eight
HEAT 3 Sat, 12:01
1. Bucknell: 5:57.80
2. Trinity: 6:01.84
3. Lehigh: 6:06.51
4. LaSalle: 6:06.98
5. Marietta: 6:12.14
6. Iona: 6:43.50
Men’s Second Varsity Eight
HEAT 2 Sat, 12:50
1. Trinity: 6:04.08
2. Bucknell: 6:08.17
3. St. Joseph's A: 6:12.58
4. Boston College: 6:14.42
5. Lehigh: 6:54.36
Women’s Freshmen Eight
HEAT 5 Sat, 1:46
1. Bucknell: 7:14.96
2. Lehigh: 7:25.39
3. Temple: 7:35.72
4. George Mason: 7:56.63
5. Scranton A: 8:51.55
Holy Cross
Men’s Freshmen Eight
HEAT 2 Sat, 2:00
1. Drexel: 6:16.65
2. Delaware: 6:23.86
3. Penn State: 6:27.34
4. Fairfield: 6:37.18
5. Lehigh: 6:47.51
6. Virginia Tech: 7:04.93
Men’s Varsity Eight
SEMI 1 Sat, 5:44
1. Trinity: 5:51.14
2. Temple: 5:51.95
3. St. Joseph's: 6:02.12
4. Lehigh: 6:04.90
5. Hobart: 6:08.24
6. Delaware: 6:19.07
Women’s Freshmen Eight
SEMI 1 Sat, 5:58
1. Kansas: 7:12.80
2. North Carolina: 7:19.92
3. Marist: 7:24.96
4. Lehigh: 7:29.15
5. George Mason: 7:51.37
6. Pittsburgh: 7:54.34
Women’s Freshmen Eight
PETITE FINAL Sun, 12:20
1. Bucknell: 7:04.75
2. Lehigh: 7:12.18
3. Buffalo: 7:13.48
4. UConn: 7:18.20
5. Marist: 7:19.66
6. Duke: 7:23.13
Men’s Varsity Eight
PETITE FINAL Sun, 2:00
1. Bucknell: 5:54.54
2. Boston College: 5:56.95
3. Lehigh: 6:01.82
4. Delaware: 6:02.13
5. Mercyhurst: 6:02.76
6. Hobart: 6:06.40