Varsity Lightweight Fours Advance to Finals at Dad Vail Regatta

Villanova has three entries reach at least the semifinals on first day of famed regatta

Villanova has three boats that will race in the semifinals or finals on Saturday at the Dad Vail Regatta.

May 8, 2009

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - The varsity lightweight four boat advanced to the finals from a preliminary field of 16 teams and Villanova had two other entries qualify for the semifinals of their respective events on the first day of the famed Dad Vail Regatta on Friday. Just one day after the Schuylkill River course was closed due to heavy rains, the regatta began with a modified schedule for the weekend and will continue on Saturday.

The lightweight four boat finished fifth out of 16 entries on Friday with a time of 5:50.825. Sophomore Kristen Panny (West Cape May, N.J.) was the coxswain for the Wildcats, who were eight seconds off the leading time. The top six teams qualified for the finals.

Junior Laura Collins (Bethlehem, Pa.) was the coxswain for the varsity heavyweight four boat which advanced to the semifinals by placing eighth out of 37 teams in the preliminary heats. Villanova posted a time of 5:07.741 and was less than seven seconds off the leading time posted by Cal-Irvine. Less than one second separated the boats in sixth through eighth place.

The other Wildcat entry to reach the semifinals was the novice heavyweight eight boat, which was 6th out of 32 boats with a time of 5:06.905 in racing on Friday. Freshman Michele Woolbert (Egg Harbor Township, N.J.) was the coxswain for Villanova, which was just over 2.5 seconds off of the lead.

The Wildcats varsity heavyweight eight boat finished 23rd out of 30 in the preliminaries with a time of 4:55.155. Villanova missed the top-18 cutoff to reach the semifinals by a little over 3.5 seconds. Junior Katie Grasing (Baldwin, N.Y.) was the boat's coxswain.

Villanova also had an entry in the novice heavyweight four, with freshman Gia Bradley as the coxswain. The boat placed 32nd out of 52 with a time of 5:49.875 and did not qualify for the semifinals.

Below is Saturday's schedule for the Wildcat boats that are still in competition.

8:14 a.m. - Varsity Heavyweight Four semifinals (top two in each of three heats to finals)
9:59 a.m. - Novice Heavyweight Eight semifinals (top two in each of three heats to finals)
12:42 p.m. - Varsity Heavyweight Four finals (Margaret McNiff Trophy)
1:03 p.m. - Varsity Lightweight Four finals (Robert Espeseth Trophy)
1:45 p.m. - Novice Heavyweight Eight finals

Villanova University