Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Knecht Cup
Bucknell Women's Crew Participates In Knecht Cup On The Cooper River
4/14/2003 8:00:00 AM | Women's Rowing
April 14, 2003
CHERRY HILL, N.J. - Bucknell's women's crew competed in the Knect Cup, in Cherry Hill, N.J., this weekend. Highlights included a first place finish from the varsity pair and seventh place finish in the women's varsity lightweight eight.
Bucknell's Varsity Pair, juniors Julie Engel and Rebecca Newman, placed first out of 12 boats. The pair defeated strong competition from Tulsa, Indiana, and UMass. This is the third time in four years that Bucknell has won the varsity pair event at the Knecht Cup, each time with different rowers.
"Julie and Becca did a very good job of maintaining their composure when faced with relatively difficult racing conditions," stated head coach Steve Kish.
The women's varsity lightweight eight placed seventh out of twelve boats. The varsity lightweight eight included, Kyra Harris, Jill Harrington, Vi Ngo, Lauren Ewald, Kara Schroepfer, Lauren Donnelly, Joan Wendler, Alexis Will and Rachel Trusheim. After finishing fourth in the heat, just two-tenths of a second short of qualifying for the grand final, Bucknell went on to win the petite final by a convincing 5.4 seconds over Georgetown, UMass, Wisconsin's junior varsity and Susquehanna University.
"We need to be competitive with the crews that were in the grand final, specifically University of Central Florida, Villanova University and Delaware University. We have about 35 seconds (over 2,000 meters) to gain over the next four weeks. It will be quite a challenge."
The Varsity Four, coxswain Nicole Tomlin, Allison Gasbarra, Candice Olszewski, Jennifer Prunoske and Tracy Menkowski, was unable to advance from the heat to semifinals.
"These women are very motivated and I think they have a lot of potential still waiting to be uncovered," mentioned Kish. "They will be very exciting to watch over the next few weeks."
The first Novice Eight boat missed qualifying from the heat to the semifinals by a very small margin. The second Novice Eight qualified from the heats to the grand final and finished sixth.
The Bison are scheduled to participate in the Murphy Cup on the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia, Pa. on Saturday, April 19.
