The Hawk

Issue date: 4/16/08 Section: Sports

The women's rowing team won seven of their nine races at George Washington.

Over the weekend, the men's and women's rowing teams traveled away from home to battle inclement weather and harsh opposition in separate events in Connecticut and Washington, D.C., respectively.

The women's squad performed exceptionally. Out of the nine races the women competed in at the George Washington Invitational on the Potomac River, they won seven including three victories from the Women's Freshman Eight. The event, which lasted one-and-a-half days, hosted a group of eight women's teams also including George Mason, Georgetown, Iowa, Navy, California, and MIT. Saint Joseph's was third overall on the women's side with 57 points,finishing behind Iowa (108) and Navy (95).

To go along with the impressive showing by the Freshman Eight, Women's 2nd Varsity Eight picked up two victories, with Women's Varsity Eight and Varsity Four each managing to win one race. The only races Saint Joseph's participated in and lost were V8 and V4 matchups.

Coach Gerry Quinlan felt the need for a "spark" in Saturday's V8 matchup against hosts GW and MIT. He took Brianne Kammerman, '11, from her usual stroke seat with the Freshman Eight to occupy the same spot with varsity. Kammerman and the team responded and passed the finish line three seconds before GW.

Water levels and temperatures were at weekly highs in the Potomac on April 11 and 12 with the water peaking on Saturday around a comfortable 67 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

In East Hartford, Conn., men's rowing went head-to-head against the Trinity College Bantams, ranked 12th in the US Rowing National Collegiate Poll. They were swept in three races amongst high water levels and floating debris. The Connecticut River was in a flood state, as the water was 17 feet higher than normal.

The Hawks fell short in Varsity Eight, 2nd Varsity Eight, and Freshman Eight. They lost by about twelve seconds in both varsity matchups and by four seconds in the Freshman Eight.

In a US Rowing poll on April 9, Saint Joseph's men's varsity lightweights were ranked 13th in the country. Their overall Varsity Eight team received 2 votes but remained unranked. Considering the competition and conditions, the Hawks appear right in the thick of things going into the final three events of the year.

The next meet for Men's rowing will take them on a road trip to the SIRA Championships in Oak Ridge, Tenn. on April 19. The women will return to Cooper River in Pennsauken, N.J. where they last dipped into the water with extraordinary results on March 15 in the Jesuit Invitational Regatta. This time, the stakes are raised for the Atlantic 10 Championship.

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