PENNSAUKEN, N.J. – The first day of action at the Knecht Cup saw all four of Villanova's boats finish fourth or better in their heats on the Cooper River Saturday.
Both of the Fours placed the highest among Villanova's boats in the heats, crossing second in their morning races.
The first Villanova boat to hit the water was the 2V4 of
Lorelei Cadorette,
Ella Larken,
Isabelle Rotival,
Taylor Pansy and
Lilly-Kate Foley. They finished nine seconds behind Colgate with a time of 8:27.96 that was good enough for a spot in Sunday's Petite Final. That time did put them six seconds ahead of CAA foe UConn.
In the V4,
Abby Shang,
Nicola Ranone,
Eliska Bohmanova,
Emmi Stanton and
Mary Eagle posted an 8:24.78. That time put them just over 11 seconds back of Wisconsin and eight seconds ahead of Lehigh. They closed out the day with the lone semifinal showing ahead of Sunday's finals day, crossing fifth in 7:52.47.
The 2V8 of
Kate Shipley,
Sadhbh McDonnell,
Sabrina Pauli,
Sarah Kearney,
Silvana Torres,
Anabelle Wang,
Natalia Brozyna,
Abi Siddons,
Mary Tracy finished 12 seconds behind a close finish from MIT and UMass to turn in a third-place time of 7:06.59.
The final heat for Villanova brought a tight one in the V8 with just under six seconds separating first and fourth-place.
Cate Donnelly,
Maggie Coyne,
Jalyn Colon,
Sylvia Marks,
Ava DeJong,
Ella Cooper,
Farrah Bardouille,
Sarah Robillard and
Natalia Peng turned in a 6:57.75 time that landed them fourth. They were just under two seconds behind third-place Temple (6:55.83) who was narrowly edged out by Colgate (6:55.42).
Sunday racing gets started early with the 2V8 kicking off the day for the Wildcats at 7:37 and the V8 following at 7:58 a.m. for semifinal action that will determine afternoon placement in those respective finals. The 2V4 Petite Final is projected to start at 9:58 a.m. with the V4 Final coming at 10:20 a.m.
Fans who cannot make it to the Cooper River can watch a
live stream of the action at the Knecht Cup's YouTube page with
live results also being posted to Rowtown.
