Villanova University

Oct. 15, 2009

Official Regatta Website

VILLANOVA, Pa.--At the 45th Head of the Charles Regatta in Cambridge this weekend, Villanova will get its 2009-10 season underway with a pair of boats racing in the world's largest two-day rowing event. The Wildcats have one entry in both the Club Fours and Club Eights races that go off on Saturday afternoon.

The seats in each boat for this weekend's races were determined after very close competition on the team for the final spots. Senior Brianna Ipjian is the coxswain of the Eights boat, which includes junior Kate Traynor, sophomore Emily Strange, junior Allison Telleri, sophomore Kellie Kruppenbacher, senior Katie Grasing, senior Jill Pietropaolo, sophomore Addison Hunt and sophomore Michele Woolbert.

The Eights race starts at 1:46 p.m. on Saturday and some of the other collegiate teams in the field include Alabama, Army, Boston College, Connecticut, Lafayette, Minnesota, MIT, Northeastern, Sacred Heart, Virginia and Yale.

Competition was particularly close for the seats in the Fours boat, which will be the first Villanova entry to race when it goes off at 12:55 p.m. early Saturday afternoon. Freshman Caitlin O'Leary is the coxswain, while junior Caitlin Cotter and sophomore Molly Berg were among those to earn spots during the team competition.

Among the collegiate teams competing in the Club Fours race are Army, Boston College, Fairfield, Hamilton, Hofstra, Holy Cross, Loyola College, MIT, North Carolina State, Pittsburgh, RIT, Sacred Heart, Stony Brook and Virginia.

Head of the Charles Regatta is the world's largest two-day rowing event and was first held on October 16, 1965. The race was established by the Cambridge Boat Club members D'Arcy MacMahon, Howard McIntyre and Jack Vincent, with the advice of Harvard University sculling instructor Ernest Arlett. Arlett proposed that a "head of the river" race similar in tradition to races held in his native England be held on the Charles River. "Head races" are a class of regattas and are generally three miles long. Boats race against each other and the clock, starting sequentially approximately 15 seconds apart. Winners of each race receive the honorary title of "Head of the River," or in this case, "Head of the Charles."

This weekend's competition is one of four on the fall schedule for the Wildcats, who will be in action next weekend in Philadelphia in the Head of the Schuylkill race (Oct. 25) as well as the following Monday at the Princeton Chase (Oct. 26). Villanova closes its fall season on November 7 at Massachusetts.