April 23, 2023
Occoquan River Race Course
Sandy Run Regional Park
Fairfax Station, VA
This past Sunday, the Dukes competed in their last regular-season regatta of their Spring 2023 campaign at the George Mason Invitational. At the regatta, Duquesne had an opportunity to both square off against A10 opponents they'd seen earlier in the season (Dayton, George Mason, St. Joe's) as well as get their first look at George Washington, while also facing off against several teams they saw the week prior at the Knecht Cup. On a picture-perfect day with plentiful sunshine, a few clouds, and a light headwind, the Dukes set out for an exciting series of races that resulted in several photo-finishes and strong performances from the team.
Second Varsity 4+
The first race of the day for Duquesne was the Second Varsity 4+. With a different lineup than they'd raced last weekend, the rowers took the course confident in their own abilities and curious to see how they'd fare against the other crews. Off the start, the Dukes struggled a bit to find their speed but once the chaos of the start settled, Duquesne found a good groove and began hammering out some excellent race strokes. By the 1000m mark, the Dukes held second place, down to the defending MAAC champions, Jacksonville, but up on the rest of the field that included two entries from Delaware and an entry from Dayton. At the 1500m mark, the Blue Hens top entry decided to challenge Duquesne for second with a hard sprint and pushed their bow ball out ahead of the Dukes. Responding in heroic fashion, Duquesne hit a sprint of their own and reclaimed second with fewer than 5 strokes to the finish line, and took second in a photo-finish, with just 0.4 seconds separating Duquesne and Delaware. For their efforts, Duquesne advanced to the Grand Final.
In the Grand Final, the 2V4+ ended up sandwiched between two entries from Delaware; one was the winner of the other heat, and the other boat was the entry from Delaware that the Dukes defeated by a razor-thin margin. Also in the race were entries from Jacksonville, Dayton, and Villanova. Off the start line this time, the Dukes came out cleanly but still down to Jacksonville and both entries from Delaware. Once all boats settled into their race rhythm, Duquesne began clawing their way back on the Delaware boats, first the one they'd beaten previously, then the one that won the other heat. With several unrelenting moves, Duquesne found themselves in a close second place with 500m to go on the racecourse, and decided to try and chase down the Dolphins from Jacksonville. While the Dukes found more distance to secure their second place, they fell short of their bid for first, but did decrease their margin from 21.6 seconds down on Jacksonville to 6.5 seconds down.
First Varsity 4+
The second boat to take the course for Duquesne was the First Varsity 4+, racing against Loyola, Eastern Michigan, Delaware, St. Joe's, and George Mason. Similar to the 2V4+, when the race started, Duquesne found themselves in last place. Three of the four rowers in the boat managed to catch some manner of mini-crabs, which set a very difficult task for the boat to advance to the Grand Final. However, with the rocky start behind them, the athletes in the shell showed a remarkable level of poise and determination to get themselves back into contention by the 500m mark, and into a group challenging for the lead by the 1000m mark. By the 1500m mark, Duquesne took the lead decisively and with a small sprint, extended their lead to open water over Delaware, which, having secured second place at that point over St. Joe's and a spot in Grand Final, chose not to challenge the Dukes.
In the Grand Final, Duquesne lined up against George Washington, Villanova, Jacksonville, Delaware, and St. Joe's. The Dukes backed into their stakeboat with the memory of their start earlier in the morning fresh in their minds, determined to get off to a better start this time around. With the start command, Duquesne did get off to a much cleaner start, and once the crews settled out, there was a pack of four boats challenging for a lead which included GW, Duquesne,
Jacksonville, and Delaware. Between the 1000m and 1500m mark, Jacksonville pushed firmly ahead and would not be caught, leaving a three boat scramble for second, third, and fourth. Duquesne started their sprint early, and then had to endure an excellent challenge from the Blue Hens, while GW fell back off the pace. At the finish line, Duquesne took home second place with a 2.4 second margin over Delaware, which ran out of racecourse to pass the Dukes and finished third.
Third Varsity 8+
The third boat of the day for the Dukes was the Third Varsity 8+, which ran a four boat race for lanes. First and second place would have the advantage of being in the center lanes, while third and fourth would take the outside lanes. With an advantage for the afternoon race on the line, Duquesne backed into the start line and got off to a crisp start with minimal technical issues. As the race settled out, it became apparent that it would be a two boat race for first between the Buff and Blue from George Washington, and Duquesne. Throughout the body of the race, neither boat was able to gain a definitive advantage. Just past the 1500m mark, Duquesne shifted up to their sprint and was able to finally jump ahead of GW but not by much; Duquesne won the heat by 3.2 seconds over GW, with Delaware and WVU trailing the pack.
In their Grand Final, the Dukes steeled themselves for another tight race. Perhaps one or more of the other crews saved something extra for the Grand Final, since all would advance, and Duquesne did not want to be caught by surprise. After another solid start, Duquesne found themselves in another tight battle with the Buff and Blue, while Delaware and WVU faded off the pace. Duquesne held a slight edge but had an unrelenting GW crew nipping their heels throughout the body of the race. With about 400m to go, the Duquesne coxswain unleashed a massive sprint, imploring her crew to shut the door on GW, and her crew responded by gaining an open water lead on GW for first place and a 6.3 second margin of victory.
Second Varsity 8+
With the morning off to a great start for Duquesne, the Second Varsity 8+ took the racecourse, prepared for a heat that likely would involve strong challenges from Dayton, George Washington, Villanova, and Eastern Michigan. Each opponent was a familiar crew, either a conference opponent, a crew that they'd raced the week prior, or a crew that defeated them last year. With the start command, the Dukes got off to a slower start than they'd have liked, but once each crew settled into their race pace, the 2V8+ found themselves in a three boat battle for first place. With only the top two guaranteed a place in Grand Finals, Duquesne fought hard against Villanova and race leader GW to find any kind of advantage. The battle for second would come down to the final few strokes; GW had a clear-cut victory in the heat, the Villanova Wildcats held second, until a massive sprint from Duquesne vaulted them ahead of the Wildcats by a full second at the finish line, both into a second place finish and the Grand Final.
In their Grand Final, Duquesne faced off against St. Joe's, Delaware, George Washington, Jacksonville, and WVU. As with the heat, the Grand Final promised to be a hotly contested race against familiar opponents; of those that advanced to the Grand Final, Duquesne had the slowest time in heats. Undaunted, when the race started, Duquesne dove headlong into the fray, trying to push themselves up to the front of the pack. The first half of the race was a stroke-for-stroke battle across all lanes, with GW and Delaware pushing themselves slightly ahead of the rest of the field, the other four crews fighting solidly against each other and to maintain some kind of overlap with the race leaders. At the 1500m mark, GMU held an edge over Delaware, which held an edge over a three boat pack which included Duquesne, Jacksonville, and WVU. When the final sprint came, Duquesne found themselves outside the top three, but made a very strong move to push them up past Jacksonville and WVU, earning third in yet another tight margin; Duquesne lost out on second to Delaware by 2.7 seconds and defeated Jacksonville by 3.7 seconds.
First Varsity 8+
The final boat out for the morning for the Dukes was the First Varsity 8+. The 1V8+ had a large challenge in front of them, racing a Delaware crew that defeated them the week prior, a Villanova crew they'd narrowly defeated last week, the defending MAAC champions Jacksonville, as well as George Mason and Loyola (MD). Off the start line, Duquesne was the slowest to leave the stake boats and had an uphill climb through the field. Steady and powerful, one stroke at a time, the Dukes methodically moved through George Mason and Loyola to catch the lead group of boats which included Villanova, Jacksonville, and Delaware. From there, the Dukes embroiled themselves in a stroke-for-stroke fight with Villanova, Jacksonville, and race leader Delaware. By the 500m to go mark, Delaware separated themselves from the pack to earn first, while Villanova pushed ahead of the three boat pack to earn second. Duquesne relied on yet another strong sprint to edge out Jacksonville and earn third. Both Jacksonville and Duquesne would move on to Grand Finals based on time, while Villanova and Delaware advanced on placement in the heat.
In addition to the three other teams advancing from their heat, in the Grand Final, Duquesne lined up against A10 rivals Dayton and George Washington, who placed second and first in their heat, respectively. Another slow start from Duquesne had them trailing the pack to start, but the Dukes, undaunted, pushed back into the thick of the fray. As the race settled out, Delaware and GW engaged each other in a no-holds-barred fight for first, while Duquesne, Dayton, and Jacksonville had a battle of their own raging over the body of the race. Coming into the finish line, Duquesne pulled out another excellent sprint, distancing themselves from Jacksonville and pushing ahead of Dayton for a few strokes. However, the Flyers responded well, with a strong push of their own, and the battle for third place came down to just 0.3 seconds, the advantage going to Dayton, while Delaware edged out GW by 3.0 seconds at the finish line.
As the Dukes loaded their trailer and boarded the bus back to Pittsburgh, smiles abounding, Head Coach
Matt Carlsen remarked "Having all five boats make the grand final and four of the boats get a top 3 finish is great for our program. It was good to line up against teams from our conference again. Big shout-out to the 3rd varsity 8 for coming in first against some tough competition. Â The team is starting to believe that anything is possible and we need to keep the momentum going over the next 3 weeks before the A10 Championships. Go Dukes!"
The Dukes are off the next two weekends, before closing out their regular season at the A10 Championships in Saratoga Springs, NY, on May 12
th.
Results summary
1
st Varsity 8+: 4
th of 11
2
nd Varsity 8+: 3
rd of 11
3
rd Varsity 8+: 1
st of 4
1
st Varsity 4+: 2
nd of 11
2
nd Varsity 4+: 2
nd of 9
Full results here
Lineups
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