Villanova, Pa.- Villanova rowing will head to Cherry Hill, New Jersey on Sunday for the Colonial Athletic Conference (CAA) Tournament. The Wildcats will face off against the six other teams in the conference, Delaware, Drexel, Eastern Michigan, Northeastern, UC San Diego, and UConn.
The Wildcats are heading into the conference championship with their best team ranking in program history. Villanova's varsity eight boat is ranked 4
th ahead of Delaware, UConn, and UC San Diego. Both the second varsity eight and varsity four are ranked third behind Drexel and Northeastern while the Wildcat's third varsity eight is second.
Team points during the championship are earned during the varsity eight, second varsity eight and varsity four races.
"We have had some strong practices over the last week and the team is itching to get on the race course," shared head coach
Carissa Adams. "The weather looks like it is going to be good, and we are expecting a fantastic day. We are proud of our entire team and looking forward to watching them leave everything they have on the course on Sunday."
The first race of the day will take place at 10:20 and will be the 3
rd varsity eight finals, which will include six of the CAA teams expect for US San Diego. The Wildcats will be in lane four and will have coxswain
Abby Burns,
Caroline Shea,
Jadyn Ramos,
Emma Lovejoy,
Tallulah Laska,
Kelly Carney,
Elizabeth Liedtka,
Anna Flynn, and
Zoe Barnes.
The second race will be the varsity four finals with all seven teams competing and Villanova in the second lane.
Mac O'Reilly will be the coxswain and
Claire Kotwicki, Fiona Fennesey,
Madeline McCarthy, and
Caroline Colgan will make up the rest of the Wildcats boat.
At 10:40 the 2
nd varsity eight race will take place with all seven conference teams facing off and Villanoa in the second lane. Villanova will have coxswain
Muriel Thomas Clapp,
Annie Dudrear,
Erin Welch,
Madison Burke,
Sarah Burghardt,
Olivia Krause, Alex Petrozzi,
Sydney Stepovich, and
Kara Dempsey.
The final race of the day will be the varsity eight finals scheduled to begin at 10:50. Coxswain
Julia Ramsey,
Holly Hubbard,
Claire Barrett,
Mary Arnold,
Cecilia Spesia,
Greta Horgan,
Kaitlin Urbanik,
Amanda Miller, and
Claire Humphrey will be the Wildcats boat for the final race.
Adams continued, "given all the obstacles that we have had to overcome, we have had a tremendous season. It truly has been a joy to coach these young women."
The winner of the CAA Tournament will head get an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, with the bracket being announced Tuesday, May 18
th. The race will be streamed on FloSports, to watch click
here, or live results can be followed
here.
