Aug. 17, 2005

PHILADELPHIA - Former Saint Joseph's women's rower Renee Hykel earned a spot on the U.S. National Rowing Team with a win in the double sculls final at the second US Rowing National Selection Regatta on Lake Mercer near Princeton, N.J. on June 16. She will compete at the 2005 FISA World Rowing Championships August 28-September 4 in Gifu, Japan. The win is significant as the women's double sculls are among the 14 Olympic rowing events in international rowing competition.

A 2001 SJU grad, Hykel and her partner Julie Nichols, a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, trailed a strong Vesper Boat Club crew of Melissa Rice and Wendy Campanella for most of the 2,000 meter Lake Mercer race before surging ahead in the final 750 meters for the win. The duo crossed the finish line in 7:03.95, eclipsing the U.S. time standard necessary to automatically qualify for the world championships by over 8 seconds.

Hykel, who rows locally out of the Schuylkill River's Undine Barge Club, won a bronze medal with Nichols in the lightweight quadruple sculls at the 2004 World Rowing Championships. She is now a three-time U.S. national team member.