May 11, 2007

VILLANOVA, Pa. - This weekend the Villanova women's rowing team will be competing in the renowned Dad Vail Regatta on the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia. This spring will mark the 74th year for the event, which is the largest collegiate regatta in the United States. The Wildcats will have several boats competing during the weekend.

For decades the Dad Vail Regatta has been held on the second Saturday in May in Philadelphia's Fairmount Park. The race course is 2000 meters and runs parallel to Kelly Drive, one of the city's main rush hour traffic arteries between downtown and Northwest Philadelphia.

More than 100 teams are expected to be in competition at this year's race, with 30 states and several Canadian provinces represented. Each spring thousands of student-athletes visit Philadelphia for this two-day event.

Among the entries for Villanova during the weekend will be the varsity Heavyweight Four and Heavyweight Eight boats. Those boats will both race in heats on Friday morning with the chance to advance to the semifinals. In addition, the Wildcats are competing in the varsity Lightweight Four and freshman/novice Heavyweight Eight races.

Admission is free to the Dad Vail Regatta and spectators are advised that Kelly Drive is closed on race days. Traffic will be routed through Fairmount Park to remote parking areas, where free shuttles will bring spectators to the event. The best place to view the races is from the grandstand.

For more information on this weekend's schedule of events and for getting to the races, visit the official Dad Vail Regatta website at www.dadvail.org. In addition, come back to www.villanova.com each evening on Friday and Saturday to see the Villanova results from that day's races.

Below is a rundown of the top events the Wildcats will compete in this weekend.

Varsity Heavyweight Four
Preliminary heat at 8:59 a.m. Friday
Two teams from each heat advance to semifinal
Teams will compete for the Margaret McNiff Trophy in the finals

Varsity Heavyweight Eight
Preliminary heat at 11:33 a.m. Friday
Two teams from each heat advance to semifinal, two others advance to reps, last place eliminated
Teams will compete for the Evelyn Bergman Trophy in the finals

Varsity Lightweight Four
Preliminary heat at 2:19 p.m. Friday
Three teams from each heat advance to semifinal
Teams will compete for the Robert Espeseth Trophy in the finals

Freshman/Novice Heavyweight Eight
Preliminary heat at 3:47 p.m. Friday
Three teams from each head advance to semifinal
Teams will compete for the Sara Vaughan Trophy in the finals