May 8, 2009

PHILADELPHIA - The men's novice eight squad, coxed by freshman Matt Horn, as well as the men's pair, advanced to Saturday's semifinals at the Dad Vail Regatta on the Schuylkill River on Friday. The Explorers also had four other crews in action.

The men's novices, La Salle's first seeded boat in more than six years, finished sixth in the 30 boat time trials to move into the semifinals. They completed the weather-shortened 1,500 meter course in 4:28.471, just three-hundredths of a second behind fifth-place Bucknell. The semifinal will launch at 9:38 AM on Saturday.

The men's pair of Matt Weidemer and Joe Hughes raced to a strong fourth place finish to advance to Saturday's semi. They rowed a 5:31.809 to best 21 of the 25 boats in the race.

Also in men's rowing action, the varsity fours finished 35th out of 53 boats in the time trails. The boat, coxed by Stephen Coulter, crossed the finish line in 4:47.905.

On the women's side, the varsity eights - led by Atlantic 10 Second Team selection Lauren O'Donnell - raced a 4:58.305 to place 26th out of 30 boats. The novice eights also rowed, finishing in 5:26.037 for 25th place out of 32. Freshman Katie Hunt was the coxswain for the novice boat.