CHERRY HILL, N.J. – Three of the four boats that hit the Cooper River on Saturday for Villanova qualified for Sunday's finals, wrapping up the first day of action at the Knecht Cup.
The V4, 2V8 and V8 all landed spots in the Petite Finals with their performances on Saturday with the projected storms that were in the forecast evading the area throughout the day's events. A last-minute shake-up in the starting lineups do to illness caused each of the lineups to see a one-seat shift ahead of Saturday's first day of racing.
Villanova's fastest time belonged to the V8 group of
Madison Girard,
Erin Welch,
Kara Dempsey,
Maggie Coyne,
Olivia Krause,
Jillian de Merlier,
Ellie Falk,
Alexandra Petrozzi, and
Madeline McCarthy. De Merlier moved into the four spot after
Sheila Joyce had to be removed due to illness. Their first event came in the morning's second heat, racing against Delaware, Duquesne, Connecticut and MIT's B team to determine lanes in the afternoon's semifinals. The Wildcats posted a 7:02.81 finish that was good enough for third in the heat and the eighth-fastest time in the three heats. Later on, the unit was third in the first semifinal, taking three seconds off of its time for a 6:59.71 finish that gave it a spot in the Petite Final set for 12:18 p.m. Sunday.
The V4 boat of
Gianna Zajac,
Sarah Robillard,
Sofia Lopez,
Rose Baker, and
Cecilia Jenkins was third in its heat to start the day for Villanova, finishing in 8:22.43. That time marked the ninth fastest throughout all of the three heats, also earning that team a spot in the 9:06 a.m. Petite Final.
In the 2V8,
Cate Donnelly,
Caroline Shea,
Jadyn Ramos,
Julia Kreisl,
Isabella Thorne,
Olivia Frizzell,
Sabrina Pauli,
Anna Flynn, and
Caroline Colgan were fourth in the final heat of that group, crossing in 7:18.03. They race again on Sunday in the Petite Final at 10:58 a.m.
In the 2V4,
Olivia Kachurak,
Addison Wittnebert,
Kelechi Onuigbo,
Grace Quirk, and
Jenna Nolan posted an 8:52.39 time that was good enough for fourth in its heat.
Fans who cannot be at the Cooper River on Sunday can keep up with live results at
this link or can tune into the live stream at
this link.
