On Saturday, Oct. 26, Villanova rowing had an impressive 2024-25 season opener at the Head of the Schuylkill Regatta. The Wildcats posted a total of two fourth-place finishes and five top-20 finishes overall.
“We’ve become the program that we have been striving to become,” head coach Carissa Adams said.
Gianna Zajac, Maggie Coyne, Kira Capaldi, Sarah Robillard and Cecilia Jenkins finished fourth, only three seconds shy of third place with a time of 14:05.249 in the Championship Fours. They set the standard for the rest of the day, leading all five boats to top 30 finishes.
Zajac, Coyne, Capaldi, Sylvia Marks, Jalyn Colon, Jadyn Ramos, Jenkins, Robillard and Bailey Bryan crossed fourth of 22 boats in a Championships Eights field, posting a time of 13:02.174. They came 21 seconds from a top-three finish.
Kate Shipley, Marks, Bryan, Ramos and Colon crossed in 14:39.943 for 13th-place in the Fours, along with Abby Shang, Grace Quirk, Silvana Torres, Olivia Weglarz and Mary Tracy posting a 19th-place finish in 14:49.981 and putting both groups in a top-20 finish.
Villanova’s Eights boat landed a 12th-place finish out of a field of 48, with rowers Cate Donnelly, Peng, Torres, Quirk, Sumnar, Weglarz, Thorne, DeJong and Tracy crossing the finish in a speedy 13:40.158 in the Club Championships race.
Despite some not-so-ideal conditions, such as heavy wind, this race was considered to be one of the most successful for the rowing program since Adams took over in the 2015-16 season.
Adams said athletes handled the conditions well, with no complaints and strong attitudes all around. She attributed the success to the entire team, along with parents and staff, saying it was “an overall team effort, and everything went really smoothly.” The Wildcats had a great support system for the day of the regatta, with a full setup of tents and help from each team member who was not competing.
The ‘Cats had been anticipating the Head of the Schuylkill Regatta since arriving back at Villanova in August, as it was considered to be their main focus of the fall season. It gave the team a good preview of where they stand within their conference, as they were able to top each one of their conference rivals this past weekend.
Adams was able to bring in 11 new freshmen for the 2024 recruiting class, and it paid off well. The freshman made an excellent contribution in their first race of their collegiate careers, as Adams had them in all of the boats for the competition.
“[The freshmen] have been really contributing and I believe that they are part of the difference,” Adams said.
The team plans to hold on to the momentum gained from this past weekend and bring it into their winter training, which will last until their first scrimmage at Jacksonville University on March 9th.
The Wildcats have one more competition for the fall season, as they will travel up to Lewisburg for the Bucknell Invitational on Saturday November 11th.
