April 5, 2011
This past weekend the Duquesne Rowing team traveled to Fairfax, VA for the Occoquan Sprints. This was the first time the Dukes have been to this event and it allowed them to see some great competition.
The Women's Second Varsity Eight (cox: Mary Ketchner, stroke: Emma Keller, Samantha Newhart, Elizabeth Rhodes, Laura Dunlap, Hilary Lovett, Margaret Brophy, Alyssa Enslen, Teresa Guzik) started the windy morning with a third place finish in their heat which advanced them to the grand final that afternoon. The University of Dayton finished first in the very tight heat with a time of 8:23. George Mason was second in 8:27, just 6 seconds ahead of the Dukes, and The University of Mary Washington was fourth with 8:54. The wind died down slightly for their afternoon final, but still proved to be a problem at the start. After a rough start Duquesne battled back to finish fifth in 8:10. They finished ahead of Atlantic 10 foe Temple by 10 seconds and trailed another A-10 rival, Dayton by 20 seconds. Last weekend at the Murphy Cup in Philadelphia the Duquesne women had finished 6 seconds behind the Temple Owls. Their finish this week shows that they are gaining speed as they move closer to their conference Championship.
The Women's Varsity Eight (cox: Kristy Pietrone, stroke: Derin Ongun, Taylor Shannon, Maria Scinico, Elizabeth Brennan, Katharine Arias, Kelly Beck, Rachael Thornton, Maria De Iuliis) also battled a tough wind for their morning heat. The Dukes went up against teams from Dayton, West Virginia, St. Mary's College, Virginia Commonwealth University, and The College of New Jersey. West Virginia cross the finish buoys first in a time of 7:44 followed by Dayton at 7:49. Duquesne finished third in a time of 8:12 which advanced them to the petite final. The petite final proved to be very exciting and one of the closest finals of the day. Duquesne finished third in a time of 8:04, just 1 second behind Mary Washington who finished second in 803, and just 2 seconds behind Marietta who crossed the line first in a time of 8:02. The floating starts at this race make it impossible to determine how much time the women have gained on their conference foes in the grand final.
The Varsity Four event boasted 20 entries in four heats. In their heat the Duquesne women (cox: Michelle Karkos, stroke: Rachael Ross, Colleen Cannan, Hannah Olinger, Meghan McNichol) raced crews from Dayton, Georgetown, Rutgers, and Marietta. Dayton finished ahead of the field in a time of 8:19. Georgetown finished second (8:40), Rutgers finished third (8:52) Duquesne crossed the line fourth with 8:55 and Marietta finished fifth (9:11). All heats were straight finals with no advancement.
After a first place win last weekend at the Murphy Cup the Novice Four (cox: Olivia Twomey, stroke: Hannah Olinger, Regina Dutz, Stephanie King, Megan Parmarter) the Dukes were looking to continue with their success. In a heat with Loyola, Georgetown, and William and Mary they did just that. They rowed a very strong race and finished first in a time of 8:56 which was 25 seconds ahead of second place Loyola (9:21). Georgetown finished third in a time of 9:35 while William and Mary finished fourth in 9:49.
The women are looking on to next week where they will encounter many strong teams and see conference foe UMass for the first time this season at the Knecht Cup in Cherry Hill, NJ.
