CAA Championships on Deck for Wildcats

PENNSAUKEN, N.J. – Championship racing has arrive for Villanova as the Wildcats head to Pennsauken N.J. on Saturday for the CAA Rowing Championship.

This year's championship will comprise of just one day of action starting at 9:30 a.m. with four straight grand final races followed by the awards ceremony tentatively set to begin at 10:45 a.m. The Wildcats head into the day seeded fourth or better in all four of the races. The highest seeded Blue and White boat is the Varsity 8 at the No. 2 seed behind top-seeded and reigning CAA Champion Northeastern.

The Villanova V8 has turned in strong performances throughout the spring, including a Lake Wheeler Invitational weekend that saw it finish third in one heat behind No. 15 Alabama and No. 23 North Carolina while knocking down a season-best time of 6:43.960 in their final heat. That performance helped the team to its second CAA Boat of the Week plaudit of the season, making the Wildcats one of just two teams to earn multiple Boat of the Week awards this season.

"I'm excited to race this weekend and proud of how hard our team has worked all season to get faster every day," said two-time All-CAA Team Selection Maggie Coyne who has been a staple for the V8 boat in her time on the Main Line. "As a senior, it means a lot to lead and race alongside such a committed group of Wildcats. We're ready to compete, we understand why, and we're all in together — four boats, one Nova Nation."

Villanova's other three boats are all four-seeds heading into Saturday. In their last showings at Lake Wheeler, each of those boats finished as high as fourth place throughout the weekend against a field full of nationally-ranked teams.

Last year's CAA Championship brought a fourth-place finish for the Wildcats marking the team's highest finish since 2023. The 29 points scored by the 'Cats in 2025 where the most for Villanova since joining the league in 2016. Three Wildcat boats raced in Grand Finals a year ago with the 2V8 earning a podium spot in their bronze-medal performance and the V8 finishing fourth in its final.

"I'm feeling so excited and pumped going into CAAs," said senior Sabrina Pauli who will be in this year's 2V8 lineup. "This season has been so much fun and I'm so grateful to work hard and get faster everyday with this team. We are heading into this weekend stronger than ever and hungry to get on that podium."

Fans who cannot make it to the Cooper River on Saturday can catch all the action of the CAA Championship as it is streamed on FloSports.

Villanova is set to race with these lineups:

Varsity 8 – 10 a.m. / Lane 4
Coxswain: Cate Donnelly
8: Maggie Coyne
7: Jalyn Colon
6: Sylvia Marks
5: Ava DeJong
4: Ella Cooper
3: Farrah Bardouille
2: Sarah Robillard
1: Natalia Peng

Second Varsity 8 – 9:50 a.m. / Lane 5
Coxswain: Kate Shipley
8: Sadhbh McDonnell
7: Natalia Brozyna
6: Nicola Ranone
5: Silvana Torres
4: Sarah Kearney
3: Sabrina Pauli
2: Abi Siddons
1: Mary Tracy

Varsity 4 – 9:40 a.m. / Lane 5
Coxswain: Abby Shang
4: Anabelle Wang
3: Eliska Bohmanova
2: Emmi Stanton
1: Mary Eagle

Third Varsity 8 – 9:30 a.m. / Lane 5
Coxswain: Lorelei Cadorette
8: Ella Larken
7: Isabelle Rotival
6: Sarah McKee
5: Sofia Broughman
4:Callie Hopkins
3: Danika Gadient
2: Taylor Pansy
1: Lilly-Kate Foley

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Players Mentioned

Natalia Brozyna: Junior; natalia-brozyna

Lorelei Cadorette: Junior; lorelei-cadorette

Jalyn Colon: Sophomore; jalyn-colon

Maggie Coyne: Senior; maggie-coyne

Ava DeJong: Sophomore; ava-dejong

Cate Donnelly: Senior; catherine-donnelly

Mary Eagle: Sophomore

Lilly-Kate Foley: Sophomore

Sylvia Marks: Sophomore; sylvia-marks

Sarah McKee: Sophomore; sarah-mckee

Players Mentioned

Natalia Brozyna
: Junior; natalia-brozyna

Lorelei Cadorette
: Junior; lorelei-cadorette

Jalyn Colon
: Sophomore; jalyn-colon

Maggie Coyne
: Senior; maggie-coyne

Ava DeJong
: Sophomore; ava-dejong

Cate Donnelly
: Senior; catherine-donnelly

Mary Eagle
: Sophomore

Lilly-Kate Foley
: Sophomore

Sylvia Marks
: Sophomore; sylvia-marks

Sarah McKee
: Sophomore; sarah-mckee