On Saturday, November 1st the Duquesne Dukes Rowing Team was in Fairfax, VA for the Head of the Occoquan Regatta with teams from around the region. Competition at the event included, but was not limited to, Navy, George Washington, Buffalo, George Mason, and West Virginia.

The first event of the day for the Dukes was the premier event of the women's championship eight in which Duquesne had three boats racing in the field of 35. The varsity eight of coxswain Faith Caldiero, Lauren Turner, Courtney Purslow, Hannah Mazur, Julia Borsari, Emma Riegel, Lauren Hughes, Alex Watts, and bow Gretchen Swabe finished second in 17:21.08 with Navy capturing the top spot in 17:11.03 and Buffalo in third in 17:23.13. Conference teams George Washington and George Mason rounded out the top 5 in 17:30.60 and 17:36.7 respectively. The JV eight of coxswain Caroline Dirr, Mary Kate Keenoy, Rachel Swain, Jessica Goldstein, Lindsay Wyllie, Meredith Starczewski, Anne Stevens, Emily Herzig, and bow Serena Benages finished in a time of 18:28.08 for 12th place and finishing 4th amongst other JV entries. The third eight of coxswain Grace Hindes, Maureen O'Brien, Jenna Boyd, Victoria Snyder, Emily Ames, Margot Gagen, Allison Kane, Kaitlyn Clam, and bow Nicole Wozniak posted a time of 19:11.72 placing 3rd amongst third eight entries and 20th overall.

Following the eights Duquesne raced the freshman four of stroke Gillian Lawhead, Antonia Maffia, Marianna Manfredi, Morgan Starczewsk, and coxswain Jean Geary in the freshman/novice four event. Crossing the line in 20:51 the Dukes finished over 20 seconds ahead of second place WVU for a gold medal.

The freshman/novice eight followed shortly after with a field of 20 boats. Duquesne had a freshman entry as well as a novice entry in the event. The frosh eight of coxswain Jean Geary, Serena Benages, Jessica Goldstein, Marianna Manfredi, Antonia Maffia, Morgan Starczewski, Madeleine Troppe, Emily Mittelstaedt, and Gillian Lawhead finished 5th in a time of 19:12.1, just 11 seconds out of the 3rd place spot and 8 seconds ahead of Delaware. The novice entry of coxswain Jenna Christner, Kira Butler, Olivia Szallai, Samantha Dunn, Cassandra Holder, Mary Katherine Byrne, Olivia Delaney, Caroline Beaupre, and bow Rachel Mowatt crossed the line in 20:39. They were second amongst all second entries in the event.

The final event of the day was the women's championship four event in which Duquesne had three entries in the 35 boat field. The junior four of coxswain Grace Hindes, Meredith Starczewski, Emily Herzig, Emma Riegel, and Lauren Hughes finished in second place in 19:28.18, just .2 ahead of the B entry from Navy (19:28.38). The senior four of coxswain Faith Caldiero, Hannah Mazur, Julia Borsari, Alex Watts, and Gretchen Swabe crossed the line in 19:55.14 for a fifth place finish just .34 and .61 ahead of George Washington's A (19:55.48) and B (19:55.75) entries. The sophomore four of coxswain Caroline Dirr, Mary Kate Keenoy, Emily Ames, Anne Stevens, and Allison Kane finished 19th in 21:4.65 which was 3rd amongst third four entries in the event.

Medals were awarded for 1st through 5th in all women's events due to the high number of entries.

Here is what Head Coach Joseph Setting had to say about the day of racing, "With five of our nine boats that competed earning medal placements, it's certainly a nice way to close the book on the fall season. The team worked very hard this fall and the positive race results we are seeing reflect that. With the indoor training season now in front of us, we must continue to strive to get even stronger in preparation for spring racing."

This event marks the end of the season for the varsity boats, but the novices and select freshmen will race in a scrimmage against WVU on Friday, November 7th in Morgantown and race in the Annual Novice Car-Du-Pitt on Saturday, November 8th on the Allegheny River.