June 17, 2006

Henley-on-Thames, England-The Villanova varsity eight defeated Northwich Rowing Club easily, in four lengths, in a time of 5:29 on the first day of the Henley Women's Regatta this afternoon.

The crew moved off the line quickly to start and rowed fairly cleanly through the length of the 1500m course. Northwich faded, and Villanova held a lead of at least a length and a half through 'til the end of the race.

They will continue to compete for the GP Jeffries Cup tomorrow in the semifinals against Imperial College at 12:05 p.m. GMT. Should Villanova advance, the 'Cats will row again at 4:25 p.m. GMT against the winner of ASR Nereus/Skoll (Netherlands) and Lake Union College (USA).

The JV boat competed well but lost in the same event to a very fast ASR Nereus/Skoll team, and the Villanova pairs, rowing in just its second race together fell short against Agecroft Rowing Club "B".