CAMDEN, N.J. – Four gold medals will return to Erie with the Mercyhurst College rowing teams as the women’s varsity eight, the men’s lightweight four, the men’s novice four and the men’s pair collected first-place finishes at the Knecht Cup hosted by Villanona.
Ranked third nationally, the women’s varsity eight victory should figure to boost its stature in this week’s national rankings after defeating a field that included regional rivals Downing and Philadelphia. The Lakers finished in a time of 6:45.9, outlasting a mid-course push from both rival squads thanks to their ability to absorb and respond to the challenge.
The Lakers were also entered in the Division I race, which finished after the Division I club/II category, and finished sixth in the third-level final in a time of 7:09.99
Competing in the eight was
Alexandra Salen at bow,
Rachel Millard in the two seat,
Rachel Beste at three,
Sally O’Brien in the four seat, followed by
Alicia Peterson,
Leah Niecgorski,
Annie Schiller and
Amanda Carlyon at stroke.
The men’s lightweight four, with
Ben Caplinger,
Jake Schuppe,
Michael Orzolek and
Jovan Jovanovic, captured gold with a time of 7:01.15, outlasting Vasser, Pittsburgh, West Virginia and Loyola.
The novice four also placed first while beating out prominent Division I talent, crossing the line in 6:58.59 over Drexel, Carnegie Mellon and Colgate.
The men’s pair, a lightweight unit competing in the heavyweight division, rounded out the medal winners as the duo of
Chris Register and
Michael Baggaley finished in a time of 7:11.57. The pair defeated units from Colgate, Penn State, Drexel and Pittsburgh.
Also competing on Sunday was the men’s varsity eight, which was another lightweight crew entered in the heavyweight division. The Lakers battled through a close race, finishing fifth in a time of 5:57.0, four seconds off Temple’s gold-medal pace and less than a second from third place. Competing in the boat for the Lakers was Baggaley at bow,
David Cullmer at two, Register at three, Jovanovic, Schuppe, Orzolek,
R.J. Rubino and
Ivan Palikuca at stroke.
Lastly, the men’s varsity four (
Thomas Hall,
Scot Bly,
James Gallagher,
Giancarlo Incorvaia and coxen Amber Zigarelli) finished sixth in a time of 7:15.26.
For full results from the Knecht Cup, please visit villanovarowing.com