The Villanova women’s rowing team delivered a strong team performance this weekend at the Doc Hosea Invitational. The Wildcats captured a Petite Final Finish in all four boats to open the spring season at Cooper River in Pennsauken, NJ.
In collegiate rowing competitions, events typically start with preliminary heats to determine seeding for the finals. Boats with the fastest times in these heats advance to the finals, then compete for accolades and top placements. The teams that do not qualify for finals move into the Petite Final, a secondary round that allows the teams to race again to further improve their times.
Villanova’s varsity eight (V8) boat — which was composed of junior Gianna Zajac, junior Maggie Coyne, senior Bailey Bryan, junior Slyvia Marks, sophomore Jalyn Colon, graduate student Jadyn Ramos, graduate student Cecilia Jenkins, senior Silvana Torres and senior Jira Capaldi — opened the competition with a fourth-place finish in their heat with a securing time of 6:45.161.
In the Petite Final, the boat finished sixth, with a time of 6:53.364.
“Times are really hard to compare from race to race, especially year to year, because conditions are so different,” head coach Carrissa Adams said. “But being that close to a team like Navy is really neat. We’ve never been that close to other programs before, so I think that’s what should be highlighted, more than it being our fastest time.”
The Wildcats’ secondary varsity eight (2V8) boat also achieved notable results, as junior Cate Donnelly, sophomore Natalia Peng, junior Sarah Robillard, sophomore Ava DeJong, sophomore Anna Primmer, sophomore Olivia Weglarz, sophomore Maddie Sumnar, sophomore Ella Carriero and senior Grace Quirk significantly improved their times.
The group initially rowed a time of 7:17.377 in the preliminary heat, and reduced it to 7:08.201 in the Petite Final, resulting in a fifth-place finish.
Training leading up to the spring season determined team selection and boat positions.
“Our first starting point is performance we’ve seen on land with the ergometers,” Adams said. “Then we do selection on the water, doing races against each other, switching rowers around to decide who moves the boat more efficiently. We also look closely at rhythm and how athletes gel as a lineup.”
In the varsity four (V4) competition, junior Kate Shipley, sophomore Natalia Brozyna, sophomore Mary Tracy, junior Sabrina Pauli and sophomore Isabelle Rotival raced to a fourth-place finish in their heat, with a time of 8:14:232. They finished fifth in the Petite Final with a time of 8:18.569.
“Typically, the third 500 is the most difficult, because you start to feel the fatigue set in right before the sprint,” Brozyna said. “We did really well in the first heat, but the second race always tests our endurance and strategy.”
Villanova’s third and final varsity eight (3V8) crew, consisting of senior Abby Shang, junior Meg Wolf, senior Rose Baker, sophomore Emmi Stanton, sophomore Sarah McKee, freshman Lilly-Kate Foley, freshman Mary Eagle, freshman Abigail Saraceno and sophomore Taylor Pansy, completed their preliminary race with a time of 7:56.522. They would then improve their standing by finishing third in the Petite Final with a time of 8:05.386.
“We performed pretty well in the heat, but our performance in the final was not as good,” Adams said. “Moving forward, we have to analyze our training. Do we need to tweak training so the athletes can handle racing twice in one day, or is it a mental preparation issue? We emphasize recovery techniques like being off your feet, staying out of the sun, and hydrating, but we may need to do more to prepare athletes for their second race of the day.”
Villanova rowing will take a break from competitive action before returning to competition on April 12 and 13, at the Knecht Cup on the Cooper River.
