Philadelphia, PA ? Stetson Rowing recently competed in the renowned Dad Vail Regatta in Philadelphia PA. As always at this race, the teams competing were very strong and Stetson was no exception. Due to weather, the schedule was changed on the first day of competition from heats to a time trial to see who would advance to semi-finals and finals.
The Men's Varsity 4+ (Eric Lamontagne, Ryan Rogers, Scott Pearson, Will Grauel, and Jenn Jones) kicked off the day with a very strong time trial, coming in 11th, only 7 seconds behind the leader.
The Women's Varsity 4+ (Danielle Reed-Hudson, Christy Ruane, Allison Lucy, Manzura Talipova, and Christina Versace) topped that with a very impressive 3rd place in their time trial, finishing only 3 seconds behind the leader.
The Light Weight Women's 4+ (Sasha Baxter, Rosemary Molloy, Caitlin Burke, Katie Breller, and Jacqueline Horbert) had a great time trial but fell short of making the finals by only a half of a second.
On Saturday the two varsity weight 4's competed in their semi-finals and the men's pair (Bill Brady, Gary Marra) were given a chance to race after their event had been canceled due to weather the day before.
Just like Friday, the Men went first and had a great race, staying at the front of the pack for the majority of the race, but were unfortunately out stroked by two very strong boats in the last 400 meters and did not get to advance to finals.
The Women's 4+ had a tough race as well and managed to take second in their semi and advance to their final.
The Men's Pair, had a good race but had to compete against a very strong group of boats in their semi-final and did not get to progress to the final. However their time from their semi-final would have gotten them 4th place in the final.
And the final race of the weekend was the Women's 4+ Final. Due to the second place finish in their semi-final, they were assigned lane 6 (known for having the least amount of favorable current). Despite the disadvantage of their lane they still managed to finish in 3rd place overall, and were only 4 seconds off of 1st place. This is the first Dad Vail medal that Stetson University has earned.
As a final note the coaches, rowers and staff would like to thank all of those who supported, cheered for and helped out the team this year. As you have read above it was a very successful year for Stetson and you were all a part of it. Also, congratulations to the graduating seniors for the outstanding job they did both with the team and with their academics. See you in the fall.
