Near Sweep Opens Spring Racing for Women's Rowing

Saturday, March 21

Schuylkill River

Temple University

Lehigh & George Washington

Photo by: Joseph V. Labolito/Temple University

Near Sweep Opens Spring Racing for Women's Rowing

3.21.15 | Women's Rowing

PHILADELPHIA - The Temple women's rowing team opened the 2015 racing season with an outstanding day on the Schuylkill River. The Owls raced boats from Lehigh and Delaware in the morning session, and then took on George Washington in the afternoon. When the day was done, Temple came out on top in seven of the eight contested races.

Head coach Rebecca Grzybowski praised the team's effort following the action. "Without a doubt, it was the best opening day in my three years as head coach," she noted. "I knew during the winter that we were setting ourselves up for a solid spring season but it's always good to get the first race in the books."

In the morning session, the Owls swept all four races. The fours kicked off the action, with Temple's varsity boat winning the event in a time of 7:32.78. The Owls B boat was second in 7:50.78, while Lehigh's varsity four was next with a time of 8:17.04. Temple's novice four had a solid race, working through a broken rigger, to take fourth place with a time of 8:45.02.

Temple also grabbed victories in both varsity eight races. In the 2V race, the Owls out-paced Lehigh, 7:04.30 to 7:11.96, while in the V8 event, Temple edged Lehigh by just over a second, recording a 6:40.58 to Lehigh's 6:41.48.

Wrapping up the morning racing, Temple's novice eight recorded a 10-second win over Delaware. The Owls completed the 2,000-meter race in 6:57.08, while Delaware finished in 7:07.24.

In the afternoon events, Temple grabbed victories in three out of the four contested races. Temple's novice eight opened the session with a commanding win over the George Washington third varsity boat. The Owls finished the course in 7:16.2, while George Washington came in at 7:30.3.

In fours racing, Temple's A boat finished just behind George Washington, as the Colonials recorded a 7:43.5 to the Owls' 7:45.9. Temple's novice four finished third in a time of 8:03.3, while the Owls B boat finished in 8:16.3.

Wrapping up the racing day, Temple swept the eights races, in a pair of events decided by five seconds or less. The Owl varsity eight boat won its race in 6:58.0 to George Washington's 7:03.8, while the Temple second varsity boat defeated George Washington, 7:11.0 to 7:12.8.

"I was most impressed with the level of intensity and the adjustments that we made from the morning to the afternoon," added Grzybowski. "We're looking forward to building from here and continuing to gain speed."

Temple is back in action next Saturday, hosting the Murphy Cup Regatta on Cooper River in Camden, N.J.

Racing Lineups

Varsity Eight	2nd Varsity Eight	Novice Eight
cox - Kelsey Franks 8 - Lily Papaleo 7 - Emily Opperman 6 - Emily Mehler 5 - Charlotte Forman 4 - Moira Meekes 3 - Callie Diguardia 2 - Annie Buckley 1 - Emily Leyland	cox - Erin Matz (AM)/Eleanor Oken (PM) 8 - Kayla Dorney 7 - Danielle White 6 - Lea Millio 5 - Jenna Bahel 4 - Olivia Stifel 3 - Kaitlin Grisanti 2 - Grace Kroner 1 - Kathy Bostion	cox - Victoria Verrekia 8 - Amanda Wolfgang 7 - Janie Augustyn 6 - Amber Dutcher 5 - Rachel Phillips 4 - Sierra Derti 3 - Megan Gleason 2 - Julie Blackmon 1 - Sarah Scanlin

Varsity Four (A)	2nd Varsity Four (B)	Novice Four
C - Eleanor Oken (AM)/Nicole Stark (PM) 4 - Aimee Meissner 3 - Gina Inverso 2 - Samantha Sederstrand 1 - Layla Moran	C - Nicole Barth 4 - Carolyn Brooks 3 - Brianne Wojciechowski 2 - Stephanie Bragg 1 - Anne Hughes	C - Brittany Fowler 4 - Casey Alameno 3 - Kelly McGee 2 - Lisa Kennedy 1 - Madison Weis