Head of the Schuylkill 2016 - Race Recap
After a few weeks of training inside the White Building, the Penn State Crew was ready to get back on the water. Our return to the Schuylkill was not only our chance to get back on the water, but also to show how our indoor training allowed us to improve. This larger regatta provided us with better competition and new faces on the club level. With the large number of Varsity programs in our events, we were hoping to get as many boats into the top half of the results.
Novice Men
With one race now under their belt the Novice squads were ready to show the true speed they possess. As the first events of the day the Novice 4s set the tone for the rest of the day. The Novice Men’s 4 would finish 8th and 19th of 27, the best overall finish of the day. The posting of the final results were followed quickly by high fives and a well-deserved celebration. After a little time to relax and collect their nerves they went right back out in 8s. They rowed very well in this event but the competition proved to a high hurdle to overcome, with a finish of 24th of 37. They are expecting a lot from themselves and their drive to improve will help them entering our last regatta next weekend.
Novice Women
Following the lead of the Novice Men, the Novice Women were ready to showcase the ability of our entire novice group. The Novice Women's 4s finished 11th and 16th out of 28. It is great to see both boats finishing well overall as it only showcases the depth they have as a squad. Later in the day, the Novice Women would move into 8s and show speed and true grit. Our “A” boat had a strong race finishing 17th of 43. The “B” is where they showed their toughness as a group. With only 1500 meters left, and only rowing with 7 (due to oar malfunction) they were still able to pass crews and finish 35th. They stayed calmed and showed true rowing maturity in a very high tension situation.
Varsity Men
Without many changes to their lineups, the Varsity men were more confident pushing away from the docks at this regatta. The returning heavy weight 4 line up from Navy Day, showed some improved speed finishing 14th of 41. They were able to pull 28 seconds ahead of ARMY and stay right on the heels of Lafayette College and UVA. The Lightweight 4 had a fast row but went over some debris after the grandstands, which limited their speed, steering, and forced them out of course a few times resulting in 30 seconds of penalties pushing them back to 33rd. With some new additions to the Varsity 8, the men were able to show some improved speed from Navy Day and landed 24th of 48. Right inside the top half but more importantly closing the gap on ARMY. Next week’s expectations are high for this strong Varsity Men’s squad.
Varsity Women
The day started with excitement and slight disappointment for the Varsity Women. As the results for the Championship 4 event were posted, the lightweight 4 took the top spot for Penn State finishing 25th (out of 62). This put us only 0.2 seconds ahead of ARMY. Unfortunately, they were assessed a 30 second penalty moving their position to 34th overall. While upset about the penalty and drop in position, they were still very happy with their row and started to focus on the Women's 8 event later in the day. We had three Varsity 8s (27 women) ready to take the water. It was going to be a very tough event filled with the fastest boats from each team. Our fastest boat finished 36 out of 58 in 18:12.432. Only a few other club teams were able to match their speed and next week’s race will be exciting.
Overall, every squad surprised themselves this weekend. Starting the morning off, Everyone was nervous about racing new lineups without a practice to see how they felt. But after each race, there were smiles and happy faces. Even with some very tough competition from Varsity programs, they were still able to show they have a lot of speed and should be considered one of the fastest club programs.
Our team would also like to send a special “Thank You!” to all the parents that came out to support Penn State Crew. The Penn State Crew Parent’s Club is only a few weeks old but is already making a huge impact. If it wasn’t for your support and all the food/drink that was provided, the regatta would not have been as successful as it was.
Head of the Schuylkill - Race Results
Men’s Novice 4 – 8th and 19th of 27
Women's Novice 4 – 11th and 16th of 28
Men’s Championship 4 – 14th and 33rd of 41
Women's Championship 4 – 34th and 44th of 62
Men’s Novice 8 – 24th of 37
Women's Novice 8 – 17th and 35th of 43
Men’s Club Championship 8 – 24th, 42nd and 48th of 48
Women's Club Championship 8 – 36th, 46th, and 52nd of 58 Full Results can be found here: https://www.herenow.com/results/#/races/20298/results Regatta photos
