PENNSAUKEN, N.J. – The first day of action at the CAA Championship saw Villanova's Varsity 8 boat post a second-place finish on Friday to lock in a Grand Final spot on the Cooper River.
That finish was the highest of the day for the Wildcats with the Second Varsity 8 and Varsity 4 both turning in fourth-place showings in their heats for Saturday's Petite Finals.
Gianna Zajac,
Maggie Coyne,
Kira Capaldi,
Jadyn Ramos,
Kara Dempsey,
Grace Quirk,
Cecilia Jenkins,
Sarah Robillard and
Anna Flynn were just a few seats behind reigning champion and top-seeded Northeastern for much of the beginning of the race, but the Huskies distanced themselves as the two groups neared the 500-meter mark. The 'Cats finished 15 seconds behind the Huskies with a second-place time of 7:10.290 to solidify a Grand Final spot for Saturday.
The 2V8 team of
Madison Girard,
Sabrina Pauli,
Sage Santora,
Silvana Torres,
Rachel Patrykus,
Makenna Davis,
Katie MacClary,
Isabella Thorne and
Julia Kreisl fell into a much closer race in its heat with 22 seconds separating first and fourth. The Villanova shell crossed in 7:46.918 to finish fourth, seven seconds behind third-place Eastern Michigan, to send it to Saturday's Petite Final.
Friday's heats wrapped up with the V4.
Cate Donnelly,
Natalia Brozyna,
Maeve Bonass,
Mary Tracy and
Emmi Stanton trailed Eastern Michigan with an open water gap for most of the early parts of the race. They made a push for that third-place spot with nearly 500 meters to go but finished six seconds back in fourth with a time of 8:41.704, sending them to the Petite Final.
Both the V4 and 2V8 will face Monmouth in the Petite Finals on Saturday at 9:40 a.m. and 10 a.m., respectively. The Blue and White are slated to line up in lane four for both of those races. The day will end with the V8 Grand Final at 10:30 a.m. where Villanova will race in lane five.
