PHILADELPHIA, Pa. (October 24, 2009) - The Rutgers women’s crew team continued their fall season this past Saturday at the Head of the Schuylkill Regatta hosted on the Schuylkill River. The varsity and novice squads both competed in occasional heavy winds and rain. The Scarlet Knights also raced at the Princeton Chase on Sunday, Oct. 25, in Princeton, N.J.
The novice eight began the day of racing for the Scarlet Knights in the women’s college frosh/novice eight event. Rutgers placed 19th out of 29, respectively, for its first race of the season.
“The Head of the Schuylkill helped the novice squad gain racing experience as it was the first head race for eight of the nine athletes racing today,” said novice coach Jessica Wojslaw. “I’m looking forward to watching this group of athletes take more strokes and develop throughout the season.”
The junior varsity eight competed in the women’s open heavy champ eights event later in the day. They started directly in front of their own varsity eight, giving the two Rutgers crews an opportunity to race each other going down the course, a unique race day opportunity that benefited both crews.
“The junior varsity eight showed a lot of guts,” said assistant coach Heather Putnam. “They push themselves to improve every time they hit the water, learning from each race to improve upon the next.”
The junior varsity eight placed 13th out of 19, respectively.
The varsity eight also competed in the women’s open heavy champ eights event where they put together their best race of this fall. RU finished fourth overall and third among collegiate crews.
“They closed the margin on Navy from 35 seconds to one and a half seconds and Drexel from 19 seconds to four in just two weeks” Putnam said. “They also went down the course faster than St. Joseph’s and Temple, which had finished in front of Rutgers at Navy Day two weeks ago.”
The Scarlet Knights returned to action on Sunday at the Princeton Chase on a three-mile course on Lake Carnegie. Rutgers continued to finish strong through the day in both the eights and fours events.
The varsity eight competed in the women’s varsity eight final mid-morning in great weather on the Carnegie. They finished 28th overall, a six-place improvement from the previous season, as well as 35 seconds faster than last year’s time.
“Looking at last year's Chase results, the first and second boats were about 35 seconds faster this year,” said head coach Max Borghard. “Yale had about the same winning time today as a year ago.”
The Rutgers junior varsity eight closed the gap on Holy Cross, who had started ahead of them in the event.
“After a frantic start, the junior varsity eight displayed composure under pressure by collecting themselves in the first 500 meters of the course to put together an outstanding piece,” said Putnam.
The junior varsity eight finished 47th out of 55, respectively, in the women’s varsity eight final.
Twenty members of the varsity squad continued their day of racing by entering into the varsity four finals event. RU entered four fours into the event and placed 11th, 30th, 34th and 42nd, respectively, out of 45 entries. The impressive 11th-place finish was comprised of rowers Helen Becz (Rutherford, N.J.), Kat Geithman (Falls Church, Va.), Janine Ford (Nutley, N.J.), Whitney Armstrong (Manassas, Va.),and coxswain Katie Quinn (Northfield, N.J.).
“The coaching staff is excited about the progress the squad is making and the direction the program is heading,” said Putnam. “Quantitatively, improvement is evident in our results week to week and compared to national champion-level teams since last year. Qualitatively, the leadership in the program is outstanding, not only from the captains but through the ranks as well. The team is positive and training hard and, on a day-to-day basis, simply enjoyable to work with.”
Rutgers returns to action in three weeks when it competes at the final race of the fall season at the Foot of the Charles in Boston, Mass., on Nov. 14.
Head of the Schuylkill
Rutgers finishes:
Novice 8: 19th, 18:58.26
Junior Varsity 8: 13th, 15:54.76
Varsity 8: Fourth, 15:08.54
Princeton Chase
Rutgers finishes:
Junior Varsity 8: 47th, 17:15.854
Varsity 8: 28th, 16:32.027
Varsity 4A: 30th, 18:32.773
Varsity 4B: 34th, 18:43.272
Varsity 4C: 11th, 17:59.203
Varsity 4D: 42nd, 19:17.589
