Crew teams impress at Kerr Cup
Michael Sipos
Issue date: 4/24/09 Section: Sports
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The men's varsity eight also had an impressive outing at the Kerr Cup, placing second behind Army as it continues to show improvement as the season nears to an end.
The CAA championship race for the women's varsity eight (6:52.62) began with a rough start, but it soon recovered to have an impressive finish, placing four seconds behind Buffalo (6:48.08), who recently became a member of the CAA for intercollegiate rowing. The Dragons had also lost to Buffalo April 10 at the Knecht Cup by 10 seconds.
"Although we only came in third in the CAA, it was a strong race for us," Vanessa Clifford, a senior rower on the women's varsity eight boat, said. "Knowing we were able to make up six seconds in a week shows us we are more than capable of beating [Buffalo] in the future."
And even with their third-place finish, the Dragons had something else that day they could be proud about as well.
"It's really important that Drexel has the privilege of hosting the CAA championships on the Schuylkill River because now it's officially recognized by the NCAA," Clifford said.
Even with this honor, the Dragons had to keep focused on the remaining events.
The Dragons continued showing improvement throughout the day with an overwhelming victory in their heat for the Kerr Cup, but it may have cost them a chance to finish higher in the championship race. The Dragons (7:27.99) were beaten by rival Delaware (7:24.63) and Buffalo (7:19.15) to take third in the Kerr Cup championship race.
"I think we got a little bit ahead of ourselves after coming in first by open water in our heat," Clifford said. "It made us underestimate opponents like Delaware who were able to come out ahead of us in the final race."
The men's varsity eight (6:18.03) faced a similar problem in the Kerr Cup as it began the first 500 meters of its race well ahead of its competition, including Army (6:16.78). But once the turns of the racecourse began, Army took a sizeable lead on the Dragons' boat. The men's varsity eight was finally able to catch up to Army, but it wasn't enough as it was edged out at the finish line to take second place.
"It was bittersweet after the race," Michael Niles, captain of the men's varsity eight rowing team, said. "Getting second place is not what you want to get, but the team has been improving consistently through the year."
Other rowers on the men's varsity eight team agree.
"Our confidence is gaining along with the high expectations we set for ourselves at the beginning of the season," Gregg Francis, a sophomore rower on the men's varsity eight boat, said. "We're getting progressively better and we want to peak for Dad Vails, which is our final race."
If the Dragons continue to improve, they should be in contention to take first place at the Dad Vail Finals which would be the perfect finish to their season that has been full of hard work.
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