Complete results
May 11, 2009
PHILADELPHIA - On May 8th and 9th the Duquesne University rowing team competed in the 71st Annual Dad Vail Regatta in Philadelphia, PA, racing a women's heavyweight 4, lightweight four and novice four.
Amidst the 133 teams and over 3,300 rowers the Dukes showed their strength. Due to high waters from heavy rain the previous week, all heats on Friday were run in a head style time trial format of 1500m.
The top 18 times in the heavyweight and novice events, and the top six times in the lightweight event advanced to the semi-finals on Saturday morning. The heavyweight four (stroke Chelsea Breitenbach, Kelly Beck, Maggie Brophy, Miriam Bovich, and cox: Shannon Corbey) just missed advancing to Saturday with a 19th place finish in 5:14.9, only 1 second out of the 18th spot.
The novice four (stroke Maria Scinico, Beth Brennan, Cara Mellits, Jessie Modrall, and cox: Kristy Pietrone) raced strong and finished with a 5th place finish posting time of 5:29.66, and the lightweight four (stroke Brittany Leasure, Kate Gorcyca, Joanna Rodriguez, Mary Deet, and cox Desirae Smith) finished with the third fastest time posting a 5:46.16.
Saturday the water level allowed for head to head sprint racing down the full 2000m course. The lightweight 4 started strong in their final and held the second place position for most of the race. Unfortunately, the last 500m of the race proved to be challenging and the Duquesne women finished 5th in a time of 7:48.6.
The novice four finished first in their semi-final 3 seconds ahead of Tulsa and posted the second fastest time out of semis behind Loyola, Md. High winds made the final challenging for Dukes, but they battled for the front spot with Greyhounds throughout the whole race. The battle ended with Loyola crossing the finish line first in a time of 8:34.6 with the Dukes only five seconds behind in the second place spot.
The Dukes will travel to Sacarmento, Calif. for the IRA Championship June 4-6.5. 5:29.665
Novice 4+ (Semifinals)
1. 7:41.048
Novice 4+ (Finals)
2. 8:39.522
