 "Photo: Caitlin Coughlan/Collegian")
The Massachusetts rowing team competed this past weekend in the largest collegiate regatta, the Dad Vail Regatta and came away with a second- and sixth-place finish.
The Dad Vail Regatta featured over 100 schools from all over the United Sates and Canada competing in over 150 races this past Friday and Saturday. The event took place on the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia.
The Minutewomen raced five boats this weekend with three boats advancing to the semifinals. Two advanced to the finals. The Varsity 4 and Novice 4 boats were eliminated on the first day's action in the preliminary rounds.
The most successful boat on the day for UMass was its Second Varsity 8. Coming into the race, the boat was given a top seed and was expected to do very well against the other 25 schools competing. After having the fastest time in the preliminary heats on Friday (6 minutes, 33.143 seconds), the Minutewomen took first in their heat (6:29.621) of the semifinals on Saturday. Their semifinal time was the second-fastest overall time, fewer than a second behind Buffalo (6:29.033).
Later on Saturday, UMass raced for the Coleman D. Boylan Trophy in the finals for the Second Varsity 8 event. The Minutewomen (6:40.489) again had the second-fastest time, but this time fell to Purdue (6:36.392). Buffalo (6:42.693), George Mason (6:49.948), Saint Joseph's (6:50.618) and Tulsa (6:52.410), respectively, rounded out the rest of the final's heat.
The second-place finish is an improvement for UMass, who finished in fourth place last year.
The other boat to make it to the finals was the Minutewomen's Novice 8. UMass won its preliminary heat on Friday to advance to the semifinals with the fourth-fastest time (6:46.374) out of the 30 boats racing. In the semifinals, UMass (6:46.362) took second, behind Orange Coast (6:41.662), in the third heat of the semifinals to advance to the finals.
Georgia Tech (6:49.351) took third place in the heat followed by Philadelphia (6:57.146), Temple (6:58.639) and Connecticut (7:10.201). The Minutewomen's semifinal time was good for the sixth best overall.
Racing for the Sara Vaughn Trophy, the Minutewomen (7:00.812) took sixth. Grand Valley (6:39.821) won the event with Saint Joseph's (6:44.319) taking second, Bucknell (6:48.150) taking third followed by Alabama (6:51.858) and Orange Coast (6:56.290).
UMass's Varsity 8 boat, which took third place last year, made it out of the preliminaries but could not advance past the semifinals. With the 14th-fastest overall time (6:38.459) out of the 40 schools in the preliminaries, the Minutewomen advanced to the semifinals and raced in the first heat. With the top two in each heat advancing, UMass's fifth-place finish was not good enough for them to qualify for the finals.
Sacramento (6:19.901) took first in the heat, with Purdue (6:21.810) and Alabama (6:30.251) rounding out the top three. Taking fourth above the Minutewomen (6:35.047) was Fordham (6:34.178), and falling in last place in the heat was Temple (6:39.914).
The regatta was the final race of the season for the Minutewomen. The season saw a lot of promise from the large number of freshmen who contributed to the team. With seven freshmen rowing in the Varsity and Second Varsity 8 boats and the Novice 8 boat continually having success, the Minutewomen have a strong foundation to work with next year.
Jeff R. Larnard can be reached at jlarnard@student.umass.edu.
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