RALEIGH, N.C. – Saturday's final day of action at the Lake Wheeler Invitational saw jumps in confidence and learning opportunities that were highlighted by weekend-best times from the 2V8 and V8.
"The Lake Wheeler Invite has been an incredible opportunity," Villanova head coach
Carissa Adams said. "We would like to thank Duke and UNC for putting on a top-notch regatta. It was a lot of fun to be at a new venue and to have a chance to race programs from all over the country, including some that are ranked in the top 20.
"I am proud of the team's performance as a whole. With three separate races per event, each boat was able to learn and improve as the weekend progressed. The team came in with the goal of competing and closing the gap on programs they have seen previously this season."
The 2V8 boat of
Kate Shipley,
Natalia Peng,
Sarah Robillard,
Grace Quirk,
Anna Primmer,
Ella Carriero,
Mary Tracy,
Isabelle Rotival and
Natalia Brozyna had a close race for fourth with Gonzaga, finishing three seconds behind the Bulldogs for a fifth-place 6:54.157 showing. That time marked the fastest for the boat over the three sessions, besting their second-round time of 6:46.800.
"The highlight of the weekend's performance came from the 2V8," Adams said. "It was fun to watch their confidence grow with every race as they continued to crush expectations."
In the V8,
Gianna Zajac,
Maggie Coyne,
Bailey Bryan,
Jadyn Ramos,
Jalyn Colon,
Silvana Torres,
Cecilia Jenkins,
Sylvia Marks and
Kira Capaldi finished a narrow two seconds behind Rhode Island to close the day, crossing sixth in 6:42.493. That time was also the boat's fastest on the weekend, going down as an eight second improvement compared to its first-round time of 6:50.470.
"The Varsity Eight had three strong performances over the weekend," Adams said. "They went into the third race committed to finding their rhythm. The V8 had a successful race and came off the water confident that they were able to stay in the mix and outperform expectations of earlier results."
Cate Donnelly,
Sabrina Pauli,
Ava DeJong,
Sarah McKee and
Emmi Stanton opened the day with a sixth-place finish in the V4, crossing in 8:29.871.
No. 12 Virginia was the winning team at the Invitational scoring 94 team points. No. 18 Duke finished second with 82 points while No. 20 Columbia was third with 73.
The next regatta on the docket for the team is the CAA Championship. That two-day regatta comes on May 16-17 on the Cooper River in Pennsauken, N.J.
