Crew posts multiple top-five finishes at Navy Day | The Triangle

Crew posts multiple top-five finishes at Navy Day

The Drexel crew teams continued their impressive start to the fall season Oct. 12 in the Navy Day Regatta on the Schuylkill River. The men’s and women’s teams showed their speed once again as they placed in the top five in five out of six events in the afternoon.

The men’s varsity boats had the strongest outings for the Dragons, as the second varsity eight and top varsity eight finished second and third overall, respectively. Meanwhile, the men’s top freshman eight boat took 11th overall.

The men’s second varsity eight B shell secured the highest finish of the day for the Dragons, taking second place in a group that featured 11 crews. The Annette Pennoni shell finished with a time of 12:10.53, which trailed only the United States Naval Academy’s time of 12:10.12.

The men’s second varsity eight A Vince Vidas boat competed in the same race, stopping the clock just behind their fellow Drexel shell for fourth place with a time of 12:17.05.

The men’s varsity eight A also had an impressive showing for Drexel. The Lois Krall boat earned third place overall out of 32 entries, posting a time of 11:52.14. The University of Pennsylvania took first overall in the event, followed by Navy.

The men’s varsity eight B Joseph Greipp shell also competed alongside the first varsity eight and finished with a time of 13:10.88 to secure 25th place overall.

Director of Rowing and head coach Paul Savell said he was pleased with how his top varsity boats performed on the day and believes the event was a good stepping stone for things to come.

“We are always looking for the win, but we kept the race close and stayed on pace with the leaders,” he said. “Overall, it was a strong showing and something to build on.”

The men’s freshman eight Peggy Greenawalt A shell made a strong push in their race, as they secured 11th overall out of 23 boats with a time of 13:05.22. Penn and Army took first and second, respectively.

The freshman eight “B” also competed in the event and stopped the clock at 14:09.56 to secure 17th place overall with the Class of ‘72 boat.

On the women’s side, expectations were high as usual. The Dragons came into the regatta having recorded first-place finishes in all of their events in the early season. Drexel continued its strong start against the toughest competition of the season so far.

The women’s varsity eight took fourth place out of 21 crews, as the Marlene Buckley II shell stopped the clock at 13:41.64. Navy, Penn and Saint Joseph’s University secured the top three spots in the race.

The women’s varsity four in the Dawn Byers boat secured fourth place in an event that featured seven other crews, stopping the clock at 16:35.73.

The women’s second varsity eight A shell finished fifth in a field of 10 teams, posting a time of 14:23.14 in the Marlene Buckley boat.

The second varsity eight B shell finished close behind their fellow Drexel boat, as they took seventh overall with a time of 14:34.80.

Savell was more than content with both the men’s and women’s performances for the day.

“These results were some of our strongest historically at this race,” he said. “The team had a very solid performance against strong competition.”

Drexel crew will be back in action Oct. 20 in Boston for the Head of the Charles Regatta. Savell believes the teams’ performances at the Navy Day Regatta showed some encouraging signs as they try to find the best lineup combinations going forward.

“We are still testing out different lineups to see who’s working well with each other,” he explained. “We are definitely making progress and finding some fast combinations as we look forward to the Head of the Charles this week.”