Duquesne University
Head of the Schuylkill
10/28/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Rowing
On Saturday, Duquesne Rowing was in Philadelphia, PA for the Head of the Schuylkill Regatta. With a beautiful day and some great competition the Dukes got to see where they stand as they near the end of their fall season. Throughout the day the women raced in 4 events with 8 boats racing.
The first race of the morning was the Women's Championship 4 Event. The junior four of stroke, Meredith Starczewski, Emily Herzig, Emma Riegel, Lauren Hughes, and coxswain Grace Hindes were out to defend a first place finish from last year's regatta. Unfortunately the lightweight four from Princeton took the top spot in 16:00.65 with the Duquesne juniors in second in 16:16.33. This was just .63 ahead of third place Old Dominion B (16:16.96). The senior four of stroke Hannah Mazur, Julia Borsari, Alex Watts, Gretchen Swabe, and coxswain Faith Caldiero finished 8th in 16:56.26 and the sophomore four of stroke Mary Kate Keenoy, Emily Ames, Anne Stevens, Alison Kane and coxswain Caroline Dirr finished 13th in 17:16.44 out of the 42 boat field.
The next event of the morning was the Women's Freshman/Novice 8 Event in which Duquesne had two boats in the 34 boat field. The freshman eight of coxswain Jean (Gigi) Geary, stroke, Serena Benages, Jessica Goldstein, Marianna Manfredi, Antonia Maffia, Morgan Starczewski, Madeleine Troppe, Emily Mittelstaedt, and Gillian Lawhead finished second (15:27.08) to UConn (15:22.08) and just ahead of the A entry from Saint Joseph's (15:40.68). The novice eight of coxswain Jenna Christner, Kira Butler, Olivia Szallai, Samantha Dunn, Cassandra Holder, Mary Katherine Byrne, Olivia Delaney, Shelby Rocco, and Rachel Mowatt finished in 13th place with a time of 17:15.24. They were second amongst B entries and dealt with a small collision due to interference from the Navy B entry.
The Women's Championship Club Eight was the first event of the afternoon for the Dukes who had two entries in the in the 31 boat field. The A entry of coxswain Caroline Dirr, Lauren Turner, Rachel Swain, Emma Riegel, Lindsay Wyllie, Jessica Goldstein, Anne Stevens, Emily Herzig, and Alison Kane finished fourth in 15:30.24, which was 8.2 seconds behind third place Navy (15:22.05) and less than 4 seconds ahead of fifth place Temple (15:34.02). The B entry of coxswain Grace Hindes, Mary Kate Keenoy, Kaitlyn Clem, Victoria Snyder, Emily Ames, Margot Gagen, Jenna Boyd, Maureen O'Brien, and Nicole Wozniak finished with a time of 15:50.12 in 11th place just 1 second behind the A entry from Delaware in 10th place (15:49.13). Drexel's A entry won the event in 15:04.51 with Old Dominion taking second (15:15.10).
The fourth and final event of the day was the Women's Championship Eight with 19 entries. The line up of coxswain Faith Caldiero, stroke Gretchen Swabe, Courtney Purslow, Alex Watts, Julia Borsari, Hannah Mazur, Lauren Hughes, Meredith Starczewski, and Serena Benages finished the 2.5 mile course in 14:47.59 placing 8th. They were 4.2 second off of 7th place Holy Cross (14:43.35). The A entry from Navy won the event in 14:19.48 with Trinity in second (14:27.52) and Drexel in third (14:27.68).
The Dukes will wrap up their fall season this weekend at the Head of the Occoquan Regatta in Fairfax Station, VA.
