PHILADELPHIA – Villanova turned in a strong performance at the Head of the Schuylkill regatta on Saturday in Philadelphia, marking the halfway mark of its fall schedule.

Four of Villanova's boats posted finishes under the 15-minute mark, three of those coming in less than 14:30.

"We had a great day on the water with many learning moments," head coach Carissa Adams said. "The weather was perfect for racing and helped our team and supporters gather to celebrate our program. We started the day off with a prayer service given by Fr. Bill Donnelly that emphasized celebrating and remember the importance of community.

"We had a great day on the water with many learning moments," head coach Carissa Adams said. "Overall, the day was perfect. We had great weather, strong competitive performances, and we were able to celebrate our program with our team and community of supporters. It was wonderful to reconnect with our alumni, converse with our parents and provide a positive race experience to our student-athletes.  I am proud of the effort given by our student-athletes today and the strides we have made this year to stay on pace."

Villanova had two teams in the top 20 of the Women's Championship Four leaderboard that consisted of 52 boats. The team of Cate Donnelly (coxswain), MK Coolican, Maggie Coyne, Kara Dempsey, Erin Welch crossed ninth in 14:44.858.

"I was really impressed with the performance of this four," Adams said. "This lineup has three freshman and two seniors."

With a time of 15:00.493, the shell of Madison Girard (coxswain), Corinne Gardner, Olivia Krause, Alexandra Petrozzi, Madeline McCarthy earned 19^th. Villanova was 16 seconds away from have a third team in the top 20 with Tai Henderson (coxswain), Anna Flynn, Isabella Thorne, Grace Quirk, Rose Baker finishing 24^th, clocking in at 15:24.238. The final Wildcat crew in the race consisted of Gianna Zajac (coxswain), Lydia Deppmann, Julie Kreisl, Sabrina Pauli, Caroline Shea, tallying a 39^th-place finish in 16:09.206 despite facing some technical problems on the course and coming to a complete stop during the race after being hit by another crew.

In the Women's Club Championship Eights, there was just 13 seconds separating Villanova's boats with commanding finishes in a field of 46. The team of Girard (coxswain), Deppman, Flynn, Baker, Kreisl, Pauli, Quirk, Gardner, Shea posted a 14:05.134 finish that was good enough for 22^nd. Zajac (coxswain), Cecilia Jenkins, Addison Wittnebert, Madelyn Wells, Kelechi Onuigbo, Olivia Frizzell, Isabella Thorne, Sofia Lopez, Jenna Nolan crossed in 14:18.018, good enough for 29^th.

"I was especially impressed by Zajac's boat as this was the first race experience for our walk-ons, Jenna Nolan, Addison Wittnebert and Madelyn Wells," Adams said. "They did a fantastic job of staying composed and embracing the experience."

Villanova's final race of the day came in the Women's Championship Eights. The shell of Cate Donnelly (coxswain), McCarthy, Petrozzi, Krause, Coyne, Coolican, Sheila Joyce, Dempsey, Welch finished seventh out of 10 boats in the field, posting a time of 13:18.897, the fastest among all Villanova boats on the day.

"This boat had a strong performance and we were able to close in on some of our competitors that we raced two weeks ago at Navy Day," Adams said.

The Wildcats close out the fall slate on November 5 with a trip to Bucknell.