Men’s Rowing Takes Two Golds, Four Medals at Dad Vails

Men's Rowing | May 14, 2022

PHILADELPHIA – The La Salle men's rowing team had themselves a historic day on the waters of the Schuylkill River, all four boats grabbing medals with two golds acquired at the Jefferson Dad Vail Regatta on Saturday afternoon.

"What a great weekend to be an Explorer!" said assistant coach Ivo Krakic. "Dad Vails was the race we have been building for the whole season. The men stepped up and delivered what will be remembered as one of the best Dad Vail finishes in history. We entered 4 boats into the Dad Vail race, and we walked away with two cups and four medals, 3rd place in men's team trophy and 3rd place in overall team trophy."
The men's varsity 4+ opened on the water in the early stages of the morning, competing for a place in the Grand Finals later in the afternoon. Needing a top two finish in their heat to qualify, the Explorer boat made no doubts as they showed off a flashy time of 6:18.933 to post the second fastest time of the remaining 18 boats in the field to advance.

In their first opportunity of the day for a trophy, the Explorers delivered. The Novice 4+ blew the field out of the water, taking gold by more than a 12 second margin over their Philadelphia rivals Drexel to win the Lindy Cup. The crew finished with a time of 6:28.70 to cross the line with plenty of distance separated between the field.

"Our freshmen 4+ won the Lindy Cup with a very impressive performance winning by 12 seconds over 2nd place Drexel," stated Krakic. "The guys were very confident and dominated the whole weekend. These men are the future of La Salle rowing, and I am excited to see them progress through the years to come."

With the bar being set, it was up to the Second Varsity 4+ to match expectations. With the fastest time in the semis, the Explorer boat once again proved their speed as they crossed the line with the second Explorer gold time of the afternoon in as many tries, finishing nearly five seconds ahead of second-place Stetson to take home the Ken Shaw Trophy. Ken Shaw, who competed for La Salle and graduated in 1964, was a Dad Vails Gold Medalist in the 60s before continuing a long and decorated rowing career – including being a master rower, coach at La Salle College High School, a U.S. Rowing board member and a board member of the Pennsylvania Barge Club.

"JV4+ race was always going to be a tough one and would require a perfect race execution," commented Krakic. "The guys delivered on that and were getting faster and faster throughout the weekend. In the grand final they made a decisive move through the Strawberry Mansion bridge to take the lead and hold it all the way to the finish. This was a very special race for La Salle rowing. Ken Shaw holds a dear place in La Salle rowing history and to win their first ever Ken Shaw cup with the La Salle boat was very special."

Battling for the supremacy in the J. Lynch Trophy, the Explorers looked to improve their third place finish in yesterday's heats to push higher up the podium. With four seconds cut off their opening time, the Explorers finished with a 6:32.33 time to record a silver finish in the event, only two seconds off the gold medal time set by Mercyhurst.

"The guys raced for lanes the day before and finished 3rd," said Krakic. "This earned them lane two for the final, which was exactly what our coxswain Elizabeth Boyle wanted. She is what I would call a lane two master. The men had a very close race, holding 3rd for the most of the final. In the final 300 meters, guys shifted into the higher gear and were the fastest moving boat. They managed to walk through the 2nd place crew and were walking on the leading boat, however they just ran out of the room. The guys left everything on the course to finish 2nd, and I couldn't be prouder of them."

Closing out the Explorers' time on the Schuylkill saw the Varsity 4+ take their place to battle for the Thomas A. Curran Cup. Improving on their earlier time in the morning by more than two seconds, the Explorers fought with everything they had against FIT. Despite their push, the Explorers fell to an FIT side that also bested their earliest time, finishing just over three seconds after their competitor to settle for an impressive 6:16.24 second place finish, securing a sweep of all four Explorer boats finishing on the medal stand.

"These guys really stepped it up last two weeks and we were very confident going into the weekend," said Krakic. "The men won their heat with ease. In the semifinal we squared off against FIT who proved to be a worthy opponent. We finished 2nd in the semifinal 1.8 seconds behind FIT. The Grand final was a very close race between us, Oklahoma City and FIT. We were sitting in 3rd at the start. The guys made a very good move at the 1000-meter line to move in to the second ahead of last year's winners Oklahoma City. We were then chasing down FIT, however they proved to be a faster crew on the day and won the event with a time of 6:12, a new course record. We finished with a time of 6:16 which was around the old course record time. The guys raced their best race and gave it their all, everything a coach could ever ask for."

With the results, the Explorers scored 72 points at the Dad Vails, giving them a third place finish with just four boats entered into the competition. Drexel took home the Men's Point Trophy with 107.75 points, Temple finishing second with 92 points.

"Dad Vails is a very special race for La Salle and having spectators back in full force was truly amazing," remarked Krakic. "Thank you for all of your support!"

RESULTS
Men's Varsity 4+ (Semis)

FIT 6:17.13
La Salle 6:18.93
Lafayette 6:39.32
West Point 6:49.07
Marietta 6:56.47
Grand Valley 6:58.88

Men's Novice 4+ (Finals – Lindy Cup)