March 28, 2005

PHILADELPHIA - The Saint Joseph's men's rowing team flexed its muscles as the team dominated the field at the Murphy Cup on the Schuylkill River. Three Hawk boats took golad medals, including the Varsity 8, Second Varsity 8 and Lightweight 8.

The Varsity 8 was particularly impressive. The crew easily won its heat and turned in the fastest qualifying time (5:50.33). In the final, SJU topped a competitive field that featured two Temple boats, G.W., Army and Dowling, winning by 3.57 with a time of 5:46.00.

Only two boats entered the Varsity Lightweight Final and SJU was clearly the class of the event defeating Bucknell by 19.41 seconds in a time of 6:05.90. SJU also easily handled the field in the Second Varsity 8 final. The 2nd V8 captured the gold by 5.14 seconds over Army in a time of 5:53.36.

The Hawks also advanced two boats to the Freshman 8 Final with the Hawks' "A" Boat winning its heat (6:12.10) and the "B" crew placing second (6:29.29). The "A" Boat was forced to withdraw from the Final, but the "B" delivered a solid performance and finished third behind George Washington and Lehigh in 6:14.31.

SJU also entered a Varsity 4+ boat that placed third in its heat (6:57.50), but did not advance to the final.