PENNSAUKEN, N.J. – Four races on the Cooper River lined the first day of the Knecht Cup on Saturday with all three Villanova boats earning spots in Sunday finals.
Both the Varsity Four and Varsity Eight boats earned spots in the Grand Final while the Second varsity Eight locked up a spot in the Petit Final.
"Our first day of racing was very successful," head coach
Carissa Adams said. "I was very proud of the team with the way they remained flexible given everything the team endured the day before with last-minute lineup changes."
The day started with the Varsity Four opening heats. Villanova's team of Coxswain
Julia Ramsey,
Caroline Colgan,
Emma Lovejoy,
Julia Longo and
Olivia Frizzell landed fourth in its heat with a time of 8:07.26. Racing in what ended up being the fastest heat in the category, The 'Cats landed a spot in Sunday's Grand Finals with the first-place finishers of each heat advancing and then the next three fastest times. Villanova's time was the sixth-fastest, allowing it to progress.
In Villanova's second race of the day, the Varsity Eight group of coxswain,
Julia Ramsey,
Erin Welch,
Jillian de Merlier,
Olivia Krause,
Claire Barrett,
Sheila Joyce,
Kara Dempsey,
Mary Arnold and
Madeline McCarthy competed for lanes in the afternoon's semifinals. The Wildcats finished in 6:56.55, good enough for second place and a spot in lane two for one of the semifinal heats.
Attention turned to the Second Varsity Eight early in the afternoon, racing in a tough six-team heat where the top three would secure a spot in Sunday's Grand Final. The boat of coxswain
Alannah Cunningham,
Annie Dudrear,
Zoe Barnes,
Grace Quirk,
Corinne Gardner,
Julia Kreisl,
Alexandra Petrozzi,
Madison Burke and
Elizabeth Liedtka finished just short of that Grand Final spot, landing fourth with a time of 7:09.84 that bested conference rivals Delaware and George Mason to secure a spot in the Petite Final.
The last race of the day saw the Varsity Eight boat head back to the course for the semifinals. Early in the race, the group put itself into a comfortable second-place position 500 meters in. They retained that spot throughout the race, earning a spot in Sunday's Grand Final, posting a time of 6:52.40.
"All-in-all, this was a great day for Villanova rowing," Adams said. "I am extremely proud of all of our boats. This was an entire squad effort. We will come out of the weekend having our competitive spirits ignited, but we look forward to another strong performance tomorrow."
Complete results from the opening day of racing can be found
here. The two-day regatta comes to close on Sunday after one more day of action. The Varsity Four Grand Final is set for 9:38 a.m. while the Second Varsity Eight Petit Final is slated for 11:06 a.m. Varsity Eight Grand Final is the last race on the docket with a 12:34 p.m. start time.
