The Drexel University men’s and women’s crew teams rowed in the Head of the Schuylkill Regatta Oct. 27 and the Princeton Chase Oct. 28. The Head of the Schuylkill Regatta held its first races in 1970. The Schuylkill River hosts thousands of athletes and fans for the two-day event.
The two freshmen/novice eights started off the day with the best finishes for the Drexel boats. The men’s college frosh/novice eight finished with a time of 12:48.439 over 30 seconds ahead of third place finishers from the University of Virginia and less than 10 seconds behind the first place crew from the United States Naval Academy.
The women’s college frosh/novice eight finished behind Temple University by less than a second. Temple crossed the line with a time of 14:31.653, and Drexel finished second with a time of 14:32.281.
The men’s second, third and fourth varsity eights competed in the men’s club championship eights event. The second varsity eight came in fourth with a time of 12:25.927. The crew from the University of Pennsylvania won the event with a time of 12:07.507. The Drexel men’s third varsity eight placed 21st while the fourth varsity eight placed 12th.
On the women’s side, the second and third varsity eights placed third and 22nd, respectively, in the women’s club championship eights event. The second varsity eight came in with a time of 13:53.581. The Penn women also took home the win for this event with a time of 13:45.341, with Hamilton College in second.
The men’s and women’s varsity eights competed in the championship eights events to close out the day. The men’s varsity eight placed fifth in a tough field of competition. The Penn men’s varsity eight took home first place with a time of 11:56.143. The Chinese National team placed second, with the Pennsylvania Athletic Club Rowing Association in third and Navy in fourth. The Drexel men finished in a time of 12:05.597.
The women’s varsity eight was also off the podium as they placed sixth overall in their event. First through fifth were Penn, Potomac Boat Club, Georgetown University, University of Connecticut and Temple. The Drexel women finished with a time of 13:50.013 a little more than a second back from Temple.
The Dragons rounded out the weekend with their last head race of the fall season at the Princeton Chase hosted by Princeton University at Lake Carnegie. Princeton invites many of the top teams in the nation to the lake which also is home to the United States Rowing National Team Training Center. The Dragons sent three boats from the men’s team and three boats from the women’s team.
The day started with the men’s varsity heavyweight eights in which there were 32 boats competing. The Drexel varsity eight finished with the best place of the day coming in at 11th with a time of 13:37.558. The top three finishers were Princeton, Dartmouth College and the University of Wisconsin. The men’s second and third varsity eights also competed in this category. The second varsity eight finished in 21st place and the third varsity eight finished in 31st.
The women’s varsity, second varsity and third varsity eights all competed in the women’s varsity open/lightweight eights event. The varsity eight came in 28th, the second varsity in 34th and the third varsity in 44th of 46 crews. The top three finishers were Princeton, Brown University and the University of Minnesota.
The Dragons will finish their fall season at the Philadelphia Frostbite Regatta at Cooper River in Pennsauken Township, New Jersey, Nov. 10.