MORGANTOWN, W. Va. – The West Virginia University rowing team is set to compete at the Knecht Cup Regatta, which will take place on Saturday, April 14 and Sunday, April 15 on the Cooper River in Cherry Hill, N.J.

One of the nation’s most prominent regattas, the Knecht Cup features competition from over 60 colleges and universities across the country. Racing on Saturday will be completed in heats, with the top two boats in each heat along with a varied number of fastest times advancing to the semifinals.

From there, the top two boats in each semifinal race will advance to the Grand Final, while the third and fourth-place crews will advance to the Petite Final, all of which will be held on Sunday.

“Although we believe we have a faster team compared to a year ago, we've yet to prove that on the water,” says head coach Jimmy King. “For a variety of reasons our progress has been slowed this spring, but this weekend's regatta provides a great opportunity for our crews to both measure and demonstrate their true speeds."

The Mountaineers have four crews entered in this weekend’s competition with one boat set to compete in the women’s varsity eight event, one boat in the second varsity eight event, one boat in the varsity four event, and one boat in the novice four event.

The varsity four crew will open competition for West Virginia, racing in the second heat of its event against Fairfield, Drexel, Duke, Army and UNH. Overall, there are 35 teams participating in the varsity four event.

Following the varsity four, the novice four crew will race in the third heat of its event against Mercyhurst, La Salle, Virginia Tech, Lafayette ‘B’ and North Carolina. The novice four competition features 47 overall entries.

The varsity eight crew will follow the novice four, opening its competition during the sixth heat of its event against Fairfield, Delaware, Boston College, Kansas and Lehigh. There are a total of 31 overall entries in the varsity eight event.

Lastly, the second varsity eight will compete against Drexel, Bucknell ‘A’, Rutgers ‘A’ and Bucknell ‘B’ in the second heat of its event. Overall, there are 28 entries in the second varsity eight competition.

Last year, West Virginia saw great success at the Knecht Cup Regatta as its novice four crew paced the team with a gold-medal finish, taking first place out of 41 overall crews and earning BIG EAST Boat of the Week honors for its performance.

Additionally, the varsity eight also advanced to the Grand Final, finishing in fifth place out of 28 crews while the second varsity eight crew qualified for the Petite Final, ultimately finishing in fourth place.

“Following a rather lackluster performance for most of our crews at the Occoquan Sprints two weeks ago, we're eager to get back to racing,” King says. “We'll see some of those same crews again and will certainly look to improve our results against them if given the chance."

For results throughout the weekend, visit http://www.regattaworks.com/. A full recap of each days’ action will be provided by MSNsportsNET.com.