PHILADELPHIA – Lehigh competed in the prestigious Dad Vail Regatta this past weekend on the Schuylkill River. The Dad Vail is the largest collegiate regatta in the United States, with over 100 colleges and universities from the U.S. and Canada. The Mountain Hawks entered eight total crews and had two advance to their respective finals. The men’s varsity eight competed in the Grand Final for the first time in the history of Lehigh Rowing, after posting back-to-back second place finishes in their opening races while the women’s lightweight eight earned a spot in their Grand Final with a top-three finish in the opening heat as they finished in a time of 6:54.9.
The men’s varsity eight took second in their opening heat with a time of 5:52.8, crossing in front of Florida, George Mason and Ohio to earn a spot in the semifinal, where they also placed second, posting a time of 5:46.6 to secure a berth in the finals. In the final, Lehigh finished sixth, one spot ahead of last year, as the Mountain Hawks completed the course in 6:03.
The men’s freshman/novice eight defeated Johns Hopkins, Carnegie Mellon and Maryland to take second place in their opening heat as they crossed in a time of 6:05.4 to earn a spot in the semifinals. The Mountain Hawks went onto finish third in the semis with a time of 6:02.54, crossing in front of Drexel and Johns Hopkins. The men’s junior varsity eight finished fourth in their opening heat, just three seconds out of a top-three finish with a time of 6:04.2.
On the women’s side of things, the varsity lightweight eight finished sixth overall with a time of 7:12. That followed their third place finish in the opening heat where they defeated Temple and Northwestern. The varsity eight finished fourth in their opening heat with a time of 6:48.6 and later finished second in the Repachage, defeating George Mason, Drake and Michigan State with a time of 6:37. The JV eight advanced to the semifinals after finishing third in the opening heat with a time of 6:51.730, just beating out Saint Mary’s and Creighton. In the semifinal race, the JV8 finished fourth crossing in a time of 6:50.8.
The women’s varsity four placed fifth in their opening heat with a time of 8:07.3 and the women’s freshman/novice four finished fourth in the opening heat, crossing in 7:51.
Lehigh’s women have completed their season, while the men will compete at the 2008 IRA Regatta on June 6 and 7 in Camden, New Jersey on the Cooper River.
