April 1, 2012

SAN DIEGO, CALIF. - The Saint Joseph's women's rowing Varsity 8 competed at the San Diego Crew Classic after a two-year hiatus. The Hawks won the Cal Cup Trophy in 2009.

The Cal Cup has grown in competitiveness in the past few years and the Hawks drew a very fast heat. SJU finished 6th in a very tight heat as .09 seconds separated 4th, 5th, and 6th places, while less than 2 seconds separated the third place team.

The Hawks' lineup consisted of: c- Brittany Roth; 3- Ariana McDevitt; 2- Rachel Shustack; and 1- Gabriella Parker.

"We didn't have a bad row. We gave up a little too much early, but were in a position to qualify with 500 meters to go and we just waited too long. Go early, go ugly is our motto - we just didn't execute well enough," said coach Gerry Quinlan.

In the third final, SJU and Miami separated from the field which included San Diego State, UC-Davis, Drexel and SMU. The Hurricanes won with the Hawks a close second.

"We feel like we put together two solid races. We are a very young squad. Only one person in the boat has ever been to the Crew Classic before. We are getting better every week. We are looking forward to the GW Invitational this week. We have learned a lot about ourselves this weekend and are ready to get back out there.

Full results can be found on www.crewclassic.org.

Saint Joseph's returns to action on April 6-7 at the GW Invitational in Washington, D.C.