Duquesne University
Knecht Cup
4/11/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Rowing
Duquesne University Women's Rowing was in Princeton, New Jersey for the Knecht Cup Regatta on Saturday and Sunday. Over two days of racing the Dukes saw competitors from across the country and within the Atlantic 10 Conference.
Saturday began with flat water and a little sun for the first races of the day. The women's varsity four raced it the first and fastest heat of the event. They finished 6th in 8:21.96 behind Army, Drexel, Princeton Lightweights, Tulsa, and UConn while posting a better time than conference foes Fordham and George Mason. Only the top 2 teams from each heat along with the next 6 fastest times advanced to the semi-final races. The Dukes held the 8th fastest time behind the top finishers.
The women's second varsity four was up next for the Dukes. In a strong race they finished fourth behind Boston College, Alabama's B entry, and Miami, while ahead of the entries from Temple and Canisius. With a progression of top 2 and next 4 fastest times the Dukes missed qualifying for the semi-final.
Not soon after the women's novice four came down the course finishing second in their heat behind Boston College advancing them to the semi-finals. As winds picked up and rain began to fall conditions slowly deteriorated on the race course. The semi-final of the freshman/novice four would be one of the final races of the day on Saturday due to the conditions. The Dukes finished fourth behind the University of Massachusetts, West Virginia University, and Temple to advance to the petite final on Sunday. In that petite final the Duquesne women crossed the line fourth behind the Princeton Lightweights, Bowdoin, and Merrimack.
The women's third varsity eight raced well in their event finishing fourth in 7:37.19 behind Boston College, North Carolina, and Alabama, but ahead of UConn and Old Dominion. The top 3 boats from the two heats in the event advanced to the final later in the day on Sunday.
The women's second varsity eight went up against teams from Kansas, Miami, Old Dominion, the Boston University Lightweights, Villanova and George Mason finishing 5th in a time of 7:57.49. Their time qualified them for the semi-finals on Sunday morning. In that semi the Dukes finished 6th behind Tulsa, Boston College, BU, Temple, and Bucknell to advance to the third level final. Duquesne would again face Miami, Old Dominion, and Bucknell along with Delaware and UNC. In their best race of the weekend the boat crossed the line in 7:16.10 for a 5th place finish behind Bucknell (6:58.03), UNC (7:05.27), Delaware (7:10.26), Old Dominion (7:14.16), and ahead of Miami (7:17.30).
The women's varsity eight had a great battle down the course in their morning heat with the eight from Bucknell. The University of Miami won the heat with a time of 7:18.27. The Dukes edged out Bucknell to cross the line 3rd in 7:28.52 to the Bison's 7:19.50. All three boats advanced to the semi-finals Sunday morning. The semi-final brought some strong races with the top 5 boats finishing less than 10 seconds apart. Defending Atlantic 10 Champions UMass finished first (6:54.83), with the Boston University Lightweights second (6:54.93), the University of North Carolina third (6:56.23), the University of Alabama fourth (7:01.6), and Duquesne fifth (7:03.2). UConn and Buffalo rounded out the field (7:08.43 and 7:13.19). The fifth place finish qualified the Dukes for the 3rd level final. The final was a battle from start to finish amongst all the boats in the final. First across the line was conference foe Fordham (6:57.07) followed by Nova Southeastern (7:03.02), Delaware (7:04.96), Southern Methodist University (7:05.81), Duquesne (7:06.81), and UConn (7:07.82).
"With a youthful roster this year this race provided us with an opportunity to get multiple racing reps against top competitors from all over the country, " commented Head Coach Joseph Setting. "While our finishing results were mixed, I'm confident the team took away valuable experience that will aid their development."
The Dukes will take to the waters again on Sunday, April 17th for the George Mason Invitational on the Occoquan Reservoir.
