The women’s rowing team won one third-place and two fourth-place finishes in the Murphy Cup last Saturday. The team raced in four events: novice four, novice eight, varsity eight and lightweight four.

In the novice four event, Villanova’s team placed fourth, while Rutgers finished with the win. In the novice eight event, the ‘Cats pulled in to third place, and Princeton won the heat. The varsity eight placed second in its first heat but lost in the finals; the lightweight crew came in fourth overall, and Princeton came in first.

“The weather played a huge factor in the race,” said freshman Laura Collins of the novice eight boat. “The river was really high, and the current was so fast because it had rained so much during the week. The fast current made the race go a lot quicker than it normally would have, so our race strategy changed to accommodate that.”

Collins said that the team was pleased with the performance of the novice eight boat because, although it did not advance to the finals, it was “very competitive.” Members of the varsity eight boat, on the other hand, were very pleased with their first race but disappointed that they lost in the final, according to Collins.

“They should have done better, and they all knew it,” Collins said.

The varsity eight and the novice eight teams competed in a small race against the Holy Cross women’s rowing team on Sunday. The varsity team raced against three Holy Cross crews and placed second. The novice eight team competed against two Crusader crews and won.