This past Sunday, April 16th, the women’s rowing team found success at the Knecht Cup, as it reached three Petite Final races.

This included an outright victory in the 2V8 race, with a winning time of 7:06.16, and top three in the V4 and V8 race on the Cooper River in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. 

The victorious 2V8 boat included Cate Donnelly, Caroline Shea, Jadyn Ramos, Julia Kreisl, Isabella Thorne, Olivia Frizzell, Sabrina Pauli, Anna Flynn and Caroline Colgan. 

The group’s time in the 2V8 was the sixth fastest in the Cup amongst all the heats, including the Petite Final and Grand, posting a time of 7:06.16, which was 12 seconds faster than their qualifying time in the previous heat.

“We always use the word ‘vibes’ [to describe the 2V8 boat],” head coach Carissa Adams said. “They just have a great energy. They love to race, they love to have fun.”

The race included opponents such as West Virginia, La Salle, St. Joseph’s, Stetson and Eastern Michigan. Villanova was the third-fastest behind Delaware, which placed first with 6:56.16, and Drexel, which finished second with 6:59.48 in the Grand Final. 

The V8 boat that finished top three in their own race was led by Madison Girard, Erin Welch, Kara Dempsey, Maggie Coyne, Olivia Krause, Jillian de Merlier, Ellie Falk, Alexandra Petrozzi and Madeline McCarthy, with a time of 7:09.11. Their third place finish was just behind first place West Virginia at 7:03.97 and second place Duquesne at 7:07.09.

“We had someone in our V8 get sick,” Adams said. “Every boat was a different lineup than what we’d been practicing — 2V8 went to V8, V4 went to 2V8. I’m proud of them for adapting and stepping up to the challenge. I still think we had a pretty decent outcome despite all of the shifts.”

As for the V4 boat, it was led by Gianna Zajac, Sarah Robillard, Sofia Lopez, Rose Baker and Cecilia Jenkins who posted a time of 8:25.05.

The Wildcats season will continue next Sunday as they head down to Fairfax, Virginia for the George Mason invitational.