Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Dad Vail Regatta
Bucknell Women's Crew Places Second at Dad Vail Regatta in Philadelphia
5/10/2003 8:00:00 AM | Women's Rowing
May 10, 2003
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - Bucknell Women's Varsity Crew made history this past Saturday, finishing second in a field of 111 institutions from the United States and Canada. Purdue University finished first with 24 points, Bucknell was second with 16 points and the University of Massachusetts was third with 15 points. With upwards of 20,000 fans, 500 boats, and 3,300 athletes, the Dad Vail regatta is the largest intercollegiate regatta of the year.
The novice openweight eight qualified for the grand final for the first time in the program's history. In Bucknell's most dramatic race of the weekend, the novice women charged from behind in their opening heat. With five hundred meters (approximately two minutes) to go, the Bison were trailing Temple by over 30 feet. "I've never seen anything like it," said head coach Stephen Kish, after watching the crew cross the finish line one second ahead of Temple. The women then advanced through the semifinal and finished sixth in the grand final, the highest finish ever for a novice openweight crew from Bucknell.
"Coach Davis has done a tremendous job with the novice program. Her women have a lot of spirit and they are always driving to improve," said Coach Kish referring to assistant coach Katie Davis. The novice eight included coxswain Alison Solano, Teal Zeisler, Natalie Wiest, Meredith Cutting, Allison DeKnight, Lisa Kim, Amanda Roof, Ashley White and Amy Bossler.
The varsity and novice openweight fours also competed well, however they were unable to qualify for the finals. The varsity four includes coxswain Nicole Tomlin, Allison Gasbarra, Candice Olszewski, Jennifer Prunoske and Tracy Menkowski. The novice four includes coxswain Caroline Karlberg, Christine Bufton, Erica Augustenborg, Jean Wells and Caitlin Scudder.
The varsity four won their heat in commanding fashion but finished third in their semifinal, one place short of qualifying for the grand final. "The varsity four has made dramatic improvements over the course of this spring. Coach Page has developed these four second-year rowers into true varsity competitors," said Coach Kish, referring volunteer assistant coach Marika Page of Boston, Massachusetts. Coach Page has been traveling to and from Boston on a weekly basis to assist the Bison this spring.
The women's varsity openweight pair also contributed significantly to the program's historic second place overall finish. Juniors Julie Engel and Rebecca Newman won the gold in a fast time of 7:53.9, over ten seconds ahead of second place Carnegie Mellon University. "The women had a difficult time at the start of the race," commented Coach Kish. "Their skill and experience showed through as the race progressed. I was very proud of the way they adjusted in the heat of battle." The win was Engel's third Dad Vail medal and Newman's second.
This is Bucknell's fourth medal in four years in the women's varsity pair event. "We've done it with completely different women each year," said Coach Kish. "I think it is a great experience for two women to develop the skills necessary to move the pair effectively."
Bucknell's final race of the weekend resulted in the program's greatest competitive result to date. Bucknell won it's first ever gold medal in an eight-oared event at the Dad Vail Regatta, dominating the field in the varsity lightweight eight with a time of 6:57.9, finishing 5.2 seconds ahead of Purdue University. The varsity eight is comprised of coxswain Kyra Harris, Jill Harrington, Vi Ngo, Lauren Ewald, Kara Schroepfer, Lauren Donnelly, Joan Wendler, Alexis Will and Rachel Trusheim. The University of Central Florida, Georgia Tech and the University of Delaware followed in that order. Villanova University did not advance from Friday's heats.
The lightweight eight started their season with losses to Georgia Tech, Villanova, Delaware and Central Florida. The worst was a 13.5 second loss to UCF on April 13.
"Our women scratched and clawed their way back into the mix over the last four weeks," said Coach Kish. After defeating Villanova and Delaware by a significant margin on April 19th, the Lady Bison set their sights on Central Florida.
The trophy for the varsity lightweight eight had a special significance this year as it is named after Dennis Kamrad, head coach of the University of Central Florida. Earlier this year, Kamrad had announced that he was retiring after this season, having led the Central Florida program for three decades.
"There was a lot of pressure on them to win," Kamrad said of his crew. "They did well under the circumstances. Purdue and Bucknell put more pressure on us than we could handle."
Coach Kish said, "I had no idea what would happen in the final in terms of the other crews. I did have faith that our women would leave everything they had on the race course."
The Bucknell women's program has now had four years of unprecedented success at the Dad Vail Regatta. The Bison won their first medals at the Dad Vail Regatta in 2000 and have not stopped. Seven of Bucknell's eight varsity entries over the past four years have won medals (three golds, three silvers and one bronze).
"The next step for us is to move into the bigger boats and the more competitive events," said Coach Kish. "Winning the lightweight eight was a confidence builder for our program. Now we need to move into the openweight eight as well."
