Villanova University

Oct. 24, 2009

Complete Race Results

PHILADELPHIA, Pa.--Freshman boats from Villanova and the University of Pennsylvania raced to a remarkably close finish on Saturday afternoon at the Thomas Eakins Head of the Schuylkill Regatta, where the Wildcats finished second in a photo finish in the Women's College Frosh/Novice Eights. Villanova had four boats in competition on Saturday as it raced locally for the first time this season.

Under the command of coxswain Kira Parks, the Wildcats finished just 0.27 seconds behind the Quakers in an event that featured 29 entries. The rest of the field was more than 14 seconds behind the Villanova and Penn boats. The Wildcats registered a time of 16:36.7867, while boats from Drexel, Saint Joseph's and Army rounded out the top five in the race.

A second Villanova boat in the same event placed 13th in the field with a time of 18:20.38. Devon Ferris was the coxswain of that boat, which was 1:43 off the winning pace.

The Wildcats second event of the day was in the Women's Open Club Eights, where Villanova finished ninth out of 15 with a time of 16:33.9533. The Wildcats were led by coxswain Caitlin O'Leary in the race. A boat from Navy won the race with a margin of more than 17 seconds, with Lafayette and Virginia Tech completing the top three finishers. The winning time for the Navy boat was 15:30.7967.

In one of the final races of the afternoon, Villanova competed in the Women's Open Heavy Championship Eights. Brianna Ipjian was the coxswain for a Wildcat boat that finished seventh out of 19 boats overall with a time of 15:31.5833. An entry from the Vesper Boat Club won the race by more than 18.5 seconds, with Drexel, Navy and Rutgers occupying the second through fourth spots.

Saturday's races on the Schuylkill River were "head races," which are a class of regattas that generally are three miles long. Boats race against each other and the clock, starting sequentially approximately 15 seconds apart.

Villanova is back in action on Sunday afternoon when it takes part in the Princeton Three-Mile Chase. The invitational event is being hosted by Princeton and the Carnegie Lake Rowing Association.