Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Women's Rowing 2007-08 Season in Review
7/14/2008 8:00:00 AM | Women's Rowing
July 14, 2008
Season in Review Photo Gallery
LEWISBURG, Pa. – A season like 2008 once would have been considered groundbreaking for the Bucknell women's rowing program. No longer is that the case as the team has put together an unprecedented string of success the last few years. The list of championships has grown exponentially, with the 2008 team adding to that impressive cache over the last few months.
The Bison captured their third consecutive Patriot League trophy and their second straight team titles at the Murphy Cup and ECAC Metro Championships this past spring. Additionally, the varsity eight won the Knecht Cup and posted a 9-2 overall record against an extremely difficult schedule. One of the highlights of the campaign was an eighth-place finish out of 18 squads at the prestigious Eastern Sprints in Bucknell's first-ever trip to the event.
The varsity lightweight eight wrapped up the year with its third consecutive berth in the grand final at the IRA National Championship, while a trip to the Henley Women's Regatta capped a successful career for four seniors and served as a springboard toward more success in 2008-09 for nearly 15 other Bison rowers.
Along with the third consecutive year of unprecedented team success, a number of Bucknell rowers received individual accolades and recognition. An All-American in 2007, senior Katherine Brewster-Duffy headlined the list of three Bison who earned spots on the All-Mid-Atlantic Region Team. Brewster-Duffy was joined on the first team by classmate Jennie Trayes, while junior Caitlin Doolin was named to the second team. It was the second consecutive first-team honor for Brewster-Duffy, while Trayes and Doolin were recognized for the first time in their careers.
Brewster-Duffy also made her second straight appearance on the All-Patriot League Team as she was joined by Trayes, senior Sophie Bird and junior coxswain Jeweliet Yost, giving Bucknell a league-best four all-league selections. It was the second all-league citation for Brewster-Duffy (2007, 2008), Trayes (2006, 2008) and Yost (2007, 2008), while Bird earned her first certificate.
Junior Whittney Henry was recognized with a position on the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA) Lightweight All-America Team for the second straight year after helping Bucknell advance to the Grand Final at the IRA National Championship Regatta for the third consecutive season. The Bison finished fourth despite having just four returnees from the 2007 boat that claimed the first national championship in school history at the event.
While many of Bucknell's rowers scooped up awards for their performances in the boat, plenty also earned plaudits for their work in the classroom. Trayes was named Second Team At-Large Academic All-District II by CoSIDA, one of just 16 Bison across Bucknell's 27 varsity sports to earn such recognition, while Bird, Trayes and sophomores Devon Mitchell, Meghan O'Reilly, Elizabeth Regan and Mary Wilson were cited as National Scholar-Athletes by the CRCA. Additionally, Bucknell had a league-best 31 rowers named to the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll. It marked the second straight year the Bison had at least 30 student-athletes cited.
In his 12th season, veteran head coach Stephen Kish collected some hardware as well. One year after claiming the Patriot League Coach of the Year, CRCA Mid-Atlantic Coach of the Year and Lightweight Coach of the Year honors, Kish earned his second straight CRCA Mid-Atlantic Coach of the Year nod. It is his fifth coach of the year citation since 2006.
The 2008 spring season opened as it has the last few years – with a training trip to Lake Russell in Elberton, Ga., in early March. There, the Bison faced Boston College in a scrimmage, with the varsity eight sweeping all three races against the Eagles.
Two weeks later Bucknell opened an extremely busy 24-hour stretch against a talented Virginia squad. The Cavaliers, whose varsity eight was ranked No. 2 in the CRCA poll entering the weekend, swept all seven races. But, the experience helped the Bison the next day when they won five of six races against North Carolina in the morning before traveling nearly 100 miles and proceeding to sweep five races from Delaware and George Mason in the afternoon. The varsity eight won both its races on the day, beginning a winning streak that would not end for nearly two months.
The final weekend in March featured another history-making day at the Murphy Cup for Bucknell. The Bison had a program-record six boats advance to the finals of the event and four posted first-place finishes as the squad took home the overall points trophy for the second consecutive season. The varsity eight's 6.64 second margin of victory over second-place Williams was the largest of the day.
Just two weeks after its grueling weekend of competition against Virginia, North Carolina, Delaware and George Mason, Bucknell had another difficult task ahead of itself April 5-6. The Bison opened their home schedule against Buffalo on Saturday, sweeping all five races from the Bulls, and then captured 12 of 13 races opposite Dayton, Georgetown, George Washington and MIT the next day in Fairfax, Va. The varsity eight won its two races over Georgetown and MIT by a combined 55 seconds.
The most challenging day of the 2008 regular season came on Saturday, April 12. Bucknell's second varsity eight, varsity four, second varsity four, novice eight and second novice eight traveled west to Ohio and faced No. 9 Tennessee, No. 11 Ohio State and No. 15 Michigan, three teams that qualified for the NCAA Championships. The varsity four posted a third-place finish, crossing the finish line more than five seconds ahead of Tennessee, to register the best showing of the day for a Bison crew.
The varsity eight did not face the trio of ranked foes. Instead, Bucknell's top boat rowed in the Knecht Cup the next day and won the title for the first time in program history. The Bison swept the heat and semifinal on Saturday and proceeded to win the final by more than eight seconds over runner-up Buffalo.
Bucknell closed the regular season at home with a series of untimed races against West Virginia, a squad that was led by former Bison men's and women's rowing coach Jimmy King. Bucknell claimed first place in all four events (varsity eight, varsity four, novice eight, novice four) on a day when six seniors (Sophie Bird, Katherine Brewster-Duffy, Cara Cox-Steiner, Jessica Glenn, Brittany Kaplan, Jennie Trayes) were recognized for their contributions to the program over their four years with the team.
On the final Sunday in April, Bucknell extended its streak of Patriot League titles to three. However, this time the Bison needed to win the trophy in dramatic fashion. After finishing second to Navy in both the varsity four and second varsity eight events, Bucknell needed to finish at least one spot ahead of the Mids in the final race of the day, the varsity eight. The Bison ended up posting a victory of nearly 15 seconds over Navy, giving them the trophy for the third consecutive year. The Bucknell varsity eight was also named the Patriot League Boat of the Year for the third straight season.
On the Cooper River in New Jersey, the site of the Patriot League Championship, the Bison claimed their second title in as many weeks as they won the ECAC Metro Championship for the second straight year. Bucknell won the overall points trophy and the NCAA points trophy by sweeping the three events in which it entered boats. The Bison won grand finals in the varsity eight, second varsity eight and varsity four.
The novices then took center stage at the Dad Vail Regatta the following weekend. The novice eight, novice four and novice lightweight eight had a successful showing at the largest collegiate regatta in the country, highlighted by a third-place finish out of 31 boats by the novice eight, marking the best showing in program history.
The 2008 campaign came to a close for a majority of the team on May 18 as the squad participated in the Eastern Sprints for the first time in program history. The Bison placed eighth of 18 teams in the final standings, while the varsity eight took second in the petite final, just 0.1 seconds behind Dartmouth. Five of Bucknell's boats placed among the top-three in their respective petite finals. Five of the Bison's boats also finished ahead of Navy, including the novice eight, which defeated the Mids for the first time in program annals. Five of the top 20 teams in the final CRCA national rankings competed at the Eastern Sprints.
The IRA National Championship Regatta represented the final event in the United States for the Bison in 2008. Bucknell's varsity lightweight eight advanced to the grand final for the third straight year and placed fourth in a strong field.
Twenty Bison rowers continued their seasons even further into June thanks to the Henley Women's Regatta, which took place on the Thames River. Kish led his troops on a two-week tour of England that featured plenty of rowing. The Bison varsity eight, second varsity eight and two spares gained the valuable international rowing experience that comes once every four years at Bucknell.
2007-08 Season in Review Highlights
- Third consecutive Patriot League title
- Second consecutive ECAC Metro Championship title
- Varsity eight won Knecht Cup
- First-ever team berth in Eastern Sprints (finished 8th of 18 teams)
- Third straight berth in grand finals of IRA National Championship Regatta (finished 4th)
- Varsity eight named Boat of the Year at Patriot League Championship for third straight year
- Varsity eight posts 9-2 record
- Trip to the Henley Women's Regatta
- Three Bison named to All-Mid-Atlantic Region Team
(Katherine Brewster-Duffy (1st Team), Jennie Trayes (1st Team), Caitlin Doolin (2nd Team)
- Four Bison named All-Patriot League
(Katherine Brewster-Duffy, Jennie Trayes, Caitlin Doolin, Jeweliet Yost)
- Whittney Henry named to CRCA Lightweight All-America Team
- Jennie Trayes named Second Team Academic All-District II
- League-most 31 Bison named to Patriot League Academic Honor Roll
- Six Bison named CRCA National Scholar-Athletes
- Stephen Kish named Mid-Atlantic Region Coach of the Year
