Varsity 4 posts fastest time!
May 8, 2009
Philadelphia, Penn.--The Anteaters' Varsity 4 traveled to Philadelphia to race in the 71st annual Dad Vail Regatta. This nationally recognized regatta, held on Friday and Saturday May 8th and 9th, attracts over 120 schools from across the United Sates and Canada.
With days of rain leading up to the racing, the river was closed for practice on Thursday due to unsafe water conditions. Friday morning the skies were clear and the crews hit the water to qualify for the semi-finals on Saturday. Instead of lining up in the blocks for a standard sprint race, a 1500 meter "head race" style time trial was run. Each crew raced against the clock, starting at different intervals.
The Lady Anteaters easily adapted to this qualifying format. The Varsity 4 of Heather Conniff (coxswain), Ashley Fee (stroke), Alex Bolt (3), Elizabeth Nguyen (2) and Allison Baker (bow) took to the water. Using the warm-up to orientate themselves to the river and their borrowed boat, Irvine was ready to test their speed against the other 36 Varsity 4 entries.
Coming off the water feeling good about their row, the Anteaters had to wait for several hours to see if they had done enough to progress to the semi-finals. Results were posted and Irvine claimed top boat speed with a time of 5:00.885. Brock University, from Canada, placed 2nd with a time of 5:01.661 followed by Stetson in 5:03.979
