VILLANOVA, Pa. – With three weeks between it and its trip to the Lake Wheeler Invitational, Villanova heads to Pennsauken, N.J. to race in the CAA Championship Friday and Saturday on the Cooper River.
 
Villanova's last time out on the water in North Carolina saw races against some of the top teams in the nation, including four nationally-ranked programs. The 'Cats 2V8 boat had their best time of the spring in that event with a 6:54.157 showing in the final round of the weekend with a fifth-place finish. That time marked their best turnaround time of the spring. In the V8, the Wildcats closed the gap on No. 18 Duke from 17 to 15 seconds from their first to third rounds.
 
A year ago, Villanova finished sixth at the CAA Championship with 21 points. All three Wildcat boats took at least six seconds off their heat times in the finals, leading the team to its fourth-most points at the event in program history. The V8 was the lone boat to make it into the Grand Finals, finishing fourth with a time of 7:04.546. The V4 and 2V8 were both first in their Petite Final showdowns with Monmouth, crossing in 8:32.617 and 7:31.542, respectively. Northeastern ended up winning its 10^th straight CAA Rowing title with 48 points in 2024, with UC San Diego and Drexel following in second and third with 40 and 33 points, respectively.
 
This year's CAA Championship is the third event on the Cooper River for the Wildcats this spring, racing in the Doc Hosea and Knecht Cup to open the second half of the season. Villanova enters its Friday heats as the fifth-seeded V8, sixth-seeded 2V8 and seventh-seeded V4 while being the sixth-seeded in Saturday's 3V8 Grand Final that will open the day's events. Friday's heats will determine how the boats line up on Saturday. Fourth place boats in each heat will move into the Petite Finals with the top three in each racing in the Grand Finals.
 
Fans can enjoy a live stream for both days at flosports.tv/caa  with live results through Regatta Timing. More info and updates can also be found at the conference's Tournament Central page.

Villanova will race with the following lineups:

V8 (Heat 1, 9:30 a.m. / 5th seed, Lane 2 vs. Northeastern, UC San Diego, Monmouth)
cox - Gianna Zajac
8 - Maggie Coyne
7 - Kira Capaldi
6 - Jadyn Ramos
5 - Jalyn Colon
4 - Silvana Torres
3 - Cecilia Jenkins
2 - Sylvia Marks
1- Bailey Bryan

2V8 (Heat 2, 10 a.m. / 6th seed, Lane 2 vs. Drexel, Delaware, UConn)
cox - Kate Shipley
8 - Natalia Peng
7 - Sarah Robillard
6 - Grace Quirk
5 - Anna Primmer
4 - Ella Carriero
3 - Mary Tracy
2 - Isabelle Rotival
1 - Natalia Brozyna

V4 (Heat 2, 10:20 a.m. / 7th seed, Lane 5 vs. Eastern Michigan, Drexel, Delaware)
cox - Cate Donnelly
4 - Sarah McKee
3 - Olivia Weglarz 
2 - Maddie Sumnar
1 - Ava DeJong

3V8 (Grand Final SATURDAY, 9:30 a.m. / 6th seed, Lane 6 vs. Eastern Michigan, UConn, Northeastern, Delaware, Drexel)
cox - Abby Shang
8 - Sabrina Pauli
7 - Meg Wolf
6 - Mary Eagle
5 - Emmi Stanton
4 - Megan Theis
3 - Lilly-Kate Foley
2 - Taylor Pansy
1 - Abigail Saraceno