May 11, 2007
Friday's Results
PHILADELPHIA - La Salle University Rowing took part in the 69th Annual Dad Vail Regatta, Friday, on the Schuylkill River, as five boats competed in a total of seven events. Highlighting the day was the Men's Varsity Eight's second-place finish in the Reps, which advanced them into the semifinals on Saturday for the second straight year.
Racing in the second-to-last event involving a La Salle boat, the Men's Varsity Eight - containing Francesca Cupo, Justin Wiener, Joe Hughes, Matt Wiedemer, Matt Stoltz, James Keough, Blaine Kneeshaw, Ryan Fair and Zack Coons - finished just ahead of third-place Santa Barbara to make it to the next day.
They stopped the clock in 6:12.3, edging out the Gauchos boat, which crossed the line in 6:13.69. They were also just two seconds behind the crew that won the race - St. Thomas, in a time of 6:10.23. The Explorers time in the reps was also 10 seconds faster than their preliminary time of 6:22.9 - good for fourth to move into the rep race.
The Men will now compete on Saturday in Event 136, which is scheduled for 10:45 AM. The top two finishers in that event will go on to race for the Richard O'Brien Trophy in the last race of the day. Third and fourth place will advance to the Second Final, which the Men's Varsity Eight competed in last year.
Kicking off the morning for La Salle was the Men's Varsity Four boat - containing Lauren Corkery, Adam Sutkus, Max Orenstein, Joe Scibetta, and Brett Fair. They took fourth place in the fifth race of the day with a time of 7:47.84.
The second La Salle boat to race was the Women's Varsity Four - consisting of Katie Teevan, Sarah Brown, Rita Brown, Molly Gatch and Patrice Girard. They were able to pass Susquehanna near the end of the race to take third in 8:24.37, less than a second ahead of the Crusaders' boat.
After the Men's Varsity Eight took fourth in their race, it was the Women's Varsity Eight's turn. The crew - containing Nicole Caronia, Aimee Nichols, Michelle Kukawski, Becky Mahney, Shauna Goetz, Kristin Weimar, Dani Fralen, Michelle DeLong and Sadie Mazur - took fourth in a time 7:29.96, advancing them to the reps, as well.
The Explorers Women's Freshman/Novice Four - containing Desiree Cappuccio, Meg Brown, Karen Mahoney, Jacquelyn Smolarek and Gillian Powell - also took third in their race, crossing the line in 8:53.7.
In the very next race after the Men advanced to Saturday, the Women's Varsity Eight took to the river. They were not as fortunate, though, coming in fifth in the rep heat in 7:24.39, but just like the Men, they rowed faster in this race, dropping five seconds off their preliminary time.
The Dad Vail Regatta will start again Saturday morning at 7:00 AM with the Women's Freshman/Novice Semifinals and La Salle's only race is - again - scheduled for approximately 10:45 AM.
