Pittsburgh, Pa. – The Duquesne University rowing team continued its 2023 fall season Saturday by winning the Yinzer Cup, hosted by RMU from the McPhail Boathouse on Neville Island, for the third consecutive year. The competition included Canisius and Marietta as well as the Dukes and Colonials.
On a day that could be described as "blustery," varying shades of gray clouds dominated the sky, with sustained headwinds of 15 miles per hour and with gusts even higher. The conditions generated significant chop, as at times the wind made the surface of the water appear to be running upriver.
Varsity 8+
Into the challenging conditions, the Dukes launched three 8+ to race against two 8+ from Canisius, and one 8+ apiece from RMU and Marietta. As the crews launched and began their warmup, a tugboat introduced even more chaos to the already challenging conditions by throwing off massive wakes, which splashed water into every boat in the race. Every shell had at least an inch of water in it at the recovery dock, and one Duquesne crew even had a small fish that washed into a footwell.
The first crew across the start line was the Duquesne Varsity 8+, coxed by sophomore
Meghan Mangan. Mangan kept her crew running well, with a stroke rate between 31 and 32 strokes per minute. The Dukes looked smooth and collected as they attacked the course, a vivid contrast to the conditions around them. Mangan's crew started first and finished first, with a time of 15:24.
The second crew for Duquesne was the fifth crew across the start line, the 2V8 coxed by
Catherine Egan. Egan's crew started ahead of a second entry from Canisius and behind the lone entry from Marietta. Egan built her crew up to a rate of 30 strokes per minute and Duquesne began their pursuit of the Pioneers, finally tracking them down about halfway down the course. The Dukes kept moving forward, battling their way through the wind and waves, closing down water on the entry from RMU. Duquesne was not able to catch the Colonials, however, but they did close down enough water on them to earn themselves third place behind Canisius.
The third and final crew in the Varsity 8+ race was also the final crew to cross the start line, coxed by
Paige Engel. Engel brought years of experience with her to the coxswain seat, as the race course on was the very same course Engel raced on for her high school crew. She had an excellent line down the course. The Dukes chased the crew in front of them, the second entry from Canisius, and managed to track them down in the first half of the course. From there, the Dukes kept pressing, Engel encouraging her crew to keep up the fight and the pressure at their race pace of 30 strokes per minute. Though Engel's crew would not pass another crew en route to the finish line, they posted the fourth fastest time on the day in the 8+ race.
Novice 8+
The second race up on the day was a race that consisted of a Novice 4+ from Canisius, a Novice 8+ from Robert Morris and two different Novice 8+ from Duquesne. Duquesne's entries were a bit different from the other crews. Duquesne rowed down the course, came back to the dock, switched their coxswain and a rower, and rowed down the course again.
The first time around for the Duquesne 8+,
Serena DeCosmo coxed her crew down the shortened 1,800-meter course. The Dukes got off to a solid start, working to find their rhythm and swing together as a crew. Moving well in their first race ever, the newest Dukes enjoyed their experience of racing in front of a crowd of spirited supporters. In the midst of the excitement, one of the athletes caught a crab, which brought the Duquesne crew to a dead stop until the athlete recovered. Back on the power once more, DeCosmo pushed her crew through the finish line, her crew recovering well from the chaos, finishing with a time of 9:53.
At the recovery dock, DeCosmo handed over the reins to coxswain
Kat Muha,
Emma Mills switched out with
Angelina Arceo, and the Dukes went back out to row over the course again. Without other crews to race on the course, it was truly Muha's crew against the elements. Muha did her best to keep her crew sharp to pierce through the wind and waves. With about 500-meters to go in the race, Muha's crew encountered Duquesne 4+ on warm up to the start line, who shouted encouragement to Muha's crew, and then the crew rowed past an even louder shoreside crowd of spectators thrilled to see the crew coming down the course again. The second time down, the crew was the fastest time of the 8+s on the course, finishing second behind the 4+ from Canisius.
Varsity 4+
The final race of the day was between 10 different varsity 4+. Duquesne and Canisius both had three entries, while RMU and Marietta both had two entries each.
The first boat across the start line was a Duquesne entry, coxed by
Jessica DeSaro. The starboards in the crew won gold medals at the Head of the Ohio previously this fall, while the ports were new to the crew. Adjusting well to each other, the crew united around DeSaro's calls and stroke seat
Samantha Szlachta's stroke, and the crew battled their way down the course. It took every bit of effort for the crew to get to the finish line, fending off a spirited challenge from a Gryphons crew from Canisius to win the event by a margin of 1.1 seconds over Canisius.
The second entry for Duquesne was the fifth crew across the line, coxed by
Rory Brouillard. Bookended by a pair of twins, Bridget and
Isabella Abbott, the crew found a smooth cadence around 28 strokes per minute, and laid down a clean race. Brouillard's voice positively booming through the speakers in the boat about 1,000 meters before the finish line, she called on her crew to push past a crew from Marietta, and they responded positively to Brouillard's commands, passing the Pioneers crew and earning themselves a third-place finish.
The final entry of the day for Duquesne was the second to last crew to race down the course of the regatta, a crew coxed by
Julia Laurie. Featuring two seniors and three freshmen, the crew was eager to see how they would fare. Off the start line, Laurie called a strong build, and the crew did their best to respond. The wind, however, buffeted the crew relentlessly, and the Dukes had to fight hard to get through the onslaught. Three quarters of the way through the race, the wind relented, and the Dukes seized on the opportunity, pushing their rate up to 35 strokes per minute to try and recover lost time. In the end, the Dukes did enough to recover enough time to beat out a crew from RMU and finished ninth overall.
Reactions
Thanks to the victories in the Varsity 8+ and Varsity 4+, as well as posting the fastest Novice 8+ time on the day, the Dukes were again awarded the Yinzer Cup for the third straight year.
"I was happy to see people step up while we work through sickness and injury," head coach
Matt Carlsen said. "The experience will only make our team deep as we move forward throughout the season. We have one more race in Philadelphia this fall, then we go back to the drawing board to see what kind of big dawg winter we can have."
The Dukes return to action Saturday, Oct. 28, by traveling to Philadephia, Pa., to take part in the Head of the Schuylkill.
Results:
| Varsity 8+ |
Novice 8+ |
Varsity 4+ |
| Duquesne (Mangan): 15:24.3 |
Canisius 4+: 8:48.2 |
Duquesne (DeSaro): 15:27.0 |
| Canisius A: 15:30.7 |
Duquesne (Muha): 9:08.4 |
Canisius A: 15:28.1 |
| Duquesne (Egan): 15:40.9 |
RMU: 9:36.7 |
Duquesne (Brouillard): 15:53.1 |
| Duquesne (Engel): 16:01.7 |
Duquesne (DeCosmo): 9:53.4 |
Canisius B: 16:06.4 |
| RMU: 16:25.4 |
|
Marietta A: 16:17.9 |
| Marietta: 16:53.6 |
|
RMU A: 16:38.3 |
| Canisius B: 18:29.9 |
|
Marietta B: 16:54.2 |
|
|
Canisius C: 17:13.4 |
|
|
Duquesne (Laurie): 18:04.0 |
|
|
RMU B: 18:51.3 |
Lineups:
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