The women’s rowing team took first place in a competition on March 21 against city rivals Drexel and Penn on the Schuylkill River.

After starting off the spring semester with a first-place finish in the Rollins Invitational, the Varsity 8 rowed to a 6:37.28 time, just beating out Drexel, which finished at 6:39.49. Penn came in third place by finishing with a time of 6:49.80.

The second Varsity 8 took third in a close race by rowing to a time of 7:05.03. First place Penn finished with a time of 7:00.77, and Drexel took second place with 7:03.27.

The boats of both Penn, which had a finishing time of 7:13.60, and Drexel, which finished at 7:24.54, beat the Wildcats in the Freshman 8. Villanova finished with a time of 7:41.46 in this competition.

Next up for the ‘Cats will be the Murphy Cup, which will take place this Saturday afternoon in Philadelphia. — J.A.