Rowing: Wins Three Medals at Frostbite Regatta
November 12, 2011 08:56 PM | General
MORGANTOWN, W. Va. – The West Virginia University rowing team concluded its fall season by winning three medals, Saturday, at the Philadelphia Frostbite Regatta on the Cooper River in Camden, N.J.
“The Frostbite is typically a hectic day of racing for us as we take advantage of the opportunity to double-up rowers among the fours and eights despite the tight schedule,” says coach Jimmy King. “We had rowers literally returning to one dock, then taking their oars and walking to another dock to get in another boat to race again. In the case of the doubles, those rowers had the opportunity to go to the line three times today.”
The team swept flight one in women’s open doubles competition, with the ‘A’ crew of Rachelle Purych and Karen Verwey placing first with a time of 7:59.39, the ‘C’ crew of Kelly Kramer and Jenelle Spencer placing second with a time of 8:15.09 and the ‘B’ crew of Courtney Schrand and Hilary Meale rounding out the top three by crossing the finish line in 8:17.60.
In Novice open eight competition, the West Virginia ‘A’ crew of Brianna Dendler, Rachel Cokeley, Sarah Hansard, Lisa Deklau, Elizabeth Duarte, Melinda Sharon, Kaitlyn Eason, Enya Messersmith and coxswain Alexandra Basil finished second behind Drexel ‘A’ (7:22.83) in flight one with a time of 7:42.85. Additionally, the Novice 8+ ‘B’ crew placed third in flight two with a time of 9:03.29.
The novice team also saw both of its open fours place fourth in their respective flights.
“The ‘A’ crew had a nice race against the competition, coming in second to a very experienced freshman/novice crew,” says associate head coach Tina Griffith. “It really seemed to get the girls motivated by showing them both what they are capable of and pointing out how they have to put in the hard work to close the experience gap and get themselves strong enough to really compete with these more experienced crews.”
In Varsity open four competition, West Virginia’s ‘A’ crew of Meale, Verwey, Schrand, Purych and coxswain Sarah Cartwright won flight two, taking first with a time of 7:50.05 ahead of Drexel ‘A’ (8:13.93) and George Mason ‘A’ (8:46.83).
The Mountaineers also took first and second place in flight three, with the ‘B’ crew of Kramer, Spencer, Brittany Doss, Mollie Rosen and coxswain Ellen Shular crossing the line in 8:13.17 ahead of the ‘C’ crew of Jessica Kelly, Jessica Hurlbert, Danicka Rencken, Danielle Widecrantz and coxswain Mallory Fisher (8:31.29).
Additionally, in Varsity open eight competition, West Virginia’s ‘A’ crew of Meale, Spencer, Kelly, Widecrantz, Kramer, Verwey, Schrand, Purych and coxswain Fisher placed second (6:59.20) in flight three behind Drexel ‘A’ (6:55.30) and ahead of George Mason ‘A’ (7:00.00).
The ‘B’ crew placed fourth in flight one with a time of 7:37.47.
“All of our crews can easily point to things that we did not do well today, but we also saw signs of things that we are doing better than this time last year,” King ends.
“The Frostbite is typically a hectic day of racing for us as we take advantage of the opportunity to double-up rowers among the fours and eights despite the tight schedule,” says coach Jimmy King. “We had rowers literally returning to one dock, then taking their oars and walking to another dock to get in another boat to race again. In the case of the doubles, those rowers had the opportunity to go to the line three times today.”
The team swept flight one in women’s open doubles competition, with the ‘A’ crew of Rachelle Purych and Karen Verwey placing first with a time of 7:59.39, the ‘C’ crew of Kelly Kramer and Jenelle Spencer placing second with a time of 8:15.09 and the ‘B’ crew of Courtney Schrand and Hilary Meale rounding out the top three by crossing the finish line in 8:17.60.
In Novice open eight competition, the West Virginia ‘A’ crew of Brianna Dendler, Rachel Cokeley, Sarah Hansard, Lisa Deklau, Elizabeth Duarte, Melinda Sharon, Kaitlyn Eason, Enya Messersmith and coxswain Alexandra Basil finished second behind Drexel ‘A’ (7:22.83) in flight one with a time of 7:42.85. Additionally, the Novice 8+ ‘B’ crew placed third in flight two with a time of 9:03.29.
The novice team also saw both of its open fours place fourth in their respective flights.
“The ‘A’ crew had a nice race against the competition, coming in second to a very experienced freshman/novice crew,” says associate head coach Tina Griffith. “It really seemed to get the girls motivated by showing them both what they are capable of and pointing out how they have to put in the hard work to close the experience gap and get themselves strong enough to really compete with these more experienced crews.”
In Varsity open four competition, West Virginia’s ‘A’ crew of Meale, Verwey, Schrand, Purych and coxswain Sarah Cartwright won flight two, taking first with a time of 7:50.05 ahead of Drexel ‘A’ (8:13.93) and George Mason ‘A’ (8:46.83).
The Mountaineers also took first and second place in flight three, with the ‘B’ crew of Kramer, Spencer, Brittany Doss, Mollie Rosen and coxswain Ellen Shular crossing the line in 8:13.17 ahead of the ‘C’ crew of Jessica Kelly, Jessica Hurlbert, Danicka Rencken, Danielle Widecrantz and coxswain Mallory Fisher (8:31.29).
Additionally, in Varsity open eight competition, West Virginia’s ‘A’ crew of Meale, Spencer, Kelly, Widecrantz, Kramer, Verwey, Schrand, Purych and coxswain Fisher placed second (6:59.20) in flight three behind Drexel ‘A’ (6:55.30) and ahead of George Mason ‘A’ (7:00.00).
The ‘B’ crew placed fourth in flight one with a time of 7:37.47.
“All of our crews can easily point to things that we did not do well today, but we also saw signs of things that we are doing better than this time last year,” King ends.
Gold-Blue Spring Festival Fan Recap
Sunday, April 19
John Neider | April 18
Saturday, April 18
Coach Zac Alley | April 18
Saturday, April 18
Coach Rich Rodriguez | April 18
Saturday, April 18
