March 25, 2012
PENNSAUKEN, N.J. - The Saint Joseph's women's rowing team advanced the Varsity 8, 2nd Varsity 8, Freshman 8 and Freshman 4 to the Grand Finals at the Murphy Cup. It was the largest Murphy Cup on record with 30 plus teams competing. The Hawks' Varsity 4 narrowly missed the Grand Final, despite posting the 6th fastest heat time.
The Varsity 8 rowed a strong heat to advance to the final. The Hawks drew Lane 1 in the final - however confusion at the start put them in Lane 6 as the regatta attempted to finish before dusk. "We rowed a strong race. Navy just rowed a stronger one, said head coach Gerry Quinlan. "We will get to see Navy again on April 21st -so we get a second chance at them."
The 2nd Varsity Eight pulled through Drexel in the last 300m to make it into the Grand Final. "This was a great performance for the us since in practice we were struggling with the ramp up of our races profiles". In the final Navy and SJU separated from the field at the 500m and at the 1500 the Midshipmen pulled ahead of the Hawks and held that through the finish. SJU earned a silver medal.
The Freshman Eight turned a corner this week, qualifying for the top 6 in a very tough field. "We continue to learn what we are capable of with every week. With every race we expect the freshmen to shave seconds as they gain confidence and trust in ourselves and each other," said Quinlan. The Hawks finished 6th.
The Freshman Four were the workhorses of the Murphy Cup. After rowing in the Freshman 8, then posting the fastest time of the day in the Freshman 4 heats, - Mary Kate Gibbons, Aleena Yobbi, Angeline Nocella, Elizabeth Parker, and Emily Coldren advanced to the final. Unfortunately in the final the regatta committee did not wait for the entrants to get to the start. They ran a two boat final - starting the race without 4 qualified crews. So the Hawks did not get a chance to compete for a medal. "The freshmen did a quick turnaround to get to the start and were excited to back up there record heat time. It is a shame for them but the regatta had problems all day and was attempting to just get the day finished," said Quinlan.
"We showed great poise today. The conditions were challenging and the races were anywhere from 40 minutes to 80 minutes off schedule -we did a great job of staying centered and focused on the task at hand," stated the coach.
The Hawks' lineups:
VARSITY 8: c- Brittany Roth, 3- Ariana McDevitt, 2- Rachel Shustack, 1- Gabriella Parker
2ND VARSITY 8: c- Myra McCann, 8- Kelsey Larzelere, 7- Meaghan Scher, 6- Jenni Broring, 5- Jackie Castorino, 4- Alexa Lawson, 3- Kelly Rupert, 2- Molly Lawrence, 1- Jill Perkins
FRESHMAN 8: c- Mary Kate Gibbons, 8- Aleena Yobbi, 7- Angeline Nocella, 6- Emily Coldren, 5- Elizabeth Parker, 4- Claire Tedesco, 3- Katie Comerer, 2- Angela Smith, 1- Chelsey Fattal
VARSITY 4: c- Paige Keller, 4- Nicola O'Donnell, 3- Victoria Stewart, 2- Laken Ethun, 1- Jess Romano
The Hawks are back in action with the Varsity 8 at the San Diego Crew Classic on March 31 and April 1. The whole team competes again at the George Washington Invitational on April 6th and 7th.
Full results
