Lehigh University Athletics
Lehigh University
Murphy Cup
Women's pair, two men's crews shine in Philly
4/3/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Rowing, Women's Rowing
 |
PHILADELPHIA – Lehigh sent eight crews to the 2010 Murphy Cup on Saturday, including the men’s varsity 4 A and B crews, the novice 4 and the novice 8, as well as the women’s varsity 8, pair and varsity 4 A and B entries. The day was highlighted by the women’s varsity pair placing second in its respective final, and a pair of men’s crews, the varsity 4 A and the novice 8 earning spots in the Grand Final. The varsity 4 finished fourth in the final and the novice 8 crossed in third.
On the men’s side, the varsity 4 A crew crossed in a time of 6:40.32 in the opening heat which was good for second place in front of entries from Loyola, Fordham, Rutgers and Duquesne. In the Grand Final the Mountain Hawks placed fourth with a time of 6:55.34 which was in front of rival Lafayette as well as Washington College.
The novice 8 had a solid opening race as it crossed in 6:15.26 to place third, easily outdistancing Dowling and Pittsburgh. The Mountain Hawks then placed third again, this time in the Grand Final, with a time of 6:26.32 to defeat Williams, Washington College and Penn State.
The men’s varsity 4 B entry finished in fifth place in its opening heat with a time of 6:58.64 and the novice 4 finished its race in a time of 7:45.26.
Lehigh’s varsity pair placed second in the final as the Mountain Hawks finished in 8:17.28, which placed them in front of entries from Pittsburgh, Penn State and Philadelphia University. Facing a very challenging group of crews, the women’s varsity 8 crossed in 7:02.02 in its opening heat, which placed the Brown and White in fourth place in front of La Salle and Duquesne.
The varsity 4 A crew finished second in its first heat as the Mountain Hawks crossed in 7:29.90, which was in front of Loyola B, Robert Morris B and Sarah Lawrence. The B crew placed fourth in its heat with a time of 7:42.08.
“Overall I think we had a good day of racing,” Director of Rowing Liz Meltzer explained. “Our times were solid, and we continue to show improvement; we weren’t able to advance as many crews as we would have liked which shows how fast the competition was today.” She added, “I’m pleased with the growth we have shown the last several weeks and look forward to getting back to work at practice this week.”
Lehigh returns to action next weekend for the two-day Knecht Cup in New Jersey. The action gets underway beginning on Saturday, April 10.
