April 3, 2010

PHILADELPHIA - The La Salle rowing team put together a terrific day at the Murphy Cup on the Schuylkill River on Saturday, led by the men's novice four boat's win in the event final after cruising into the final via a first place win in heats. Three boats total made it through to their respective finals.

The men's novice four rowed a 7:01.09 to take gold. The Explorers outlasted runner-up Colgate by just over three seconds and third place Drexel by over six seconds. Rounding out the finals were New York Maritime, Pittsburgh and Penn State.

They advanced to the final by finishing first in heat 1 with a 6:54.15, a commanding win in which the closest boat, New York Maritime, crossed the finish line more than nine seconds behind. Rounding out the early round race were Lafayette, Rutgers-Camden and Lehigh.

The men's varsity eight boat and the women's novice four boat also made the finals, where both boats finished fifth in their respective race. The men's V8 clocked a 6:14.23 in coming in fifth. Jacksonville won with a 5:57.74. Rounding out the race were Temple, Williams, Drexel, the Explorers and Fordham. The V8 advanced to the final via a second place finish in heats. They clocked a 5:55.63, less than two seconds off of Temple's winning time of 5:53.65. The Explorers beat out Saint Joseph's by nearly nine seconds and Franklin & Marshall by 44 seconds.

The women's novice four clocked a 7:53.39 to finish fifth in the final. They advanced with a third place finish in the heat round where they clocked a 7:52.31. The order of finish in the final was Villanova (7:35.73), Pittsburgh (7:47.16), Delaware (7:49.65), Saint Joseph's (7:52.68), La Salle (7:53.39) and Lafayette (7:55.25).

Also in action were the men's varsity pair and women's varsity eight boats. The men's pair finished third in heat 1 with an 8:03.89, while the women's V8 clocked a 7:05.37 in finishing fifth in heat 1.

The La Salle crew returns to the water next weekend for the two-day Knecht Cup on the Cooper River in Camden, NJ.