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West Virginia Competes at the Knecht Cup Regatta
April 08, 2016 09:22 AM | Rowing
WEST WINDSOR, N.J. – The West Virginia University rowing team returns to the water this week at the prestigious Knecht Cup Regatta on April 9-10, in West Windsor Township, New Jersey.
The two-day event features crews from 70 schools across the country, including more than a dozen Division I women’s programs. Big 12 foes Alabama, Kansas and Old Dominion are scheduled to compete at the regatta.
Competition from Mercer Lake begins at 7 a.m. on Saturday, while Sunday’s races are scheduled to start at 8 a.m. Saturday consist of morning heats and afternoon semifinals, followed by the finals on Sunday.
“We are more race-ready now than at our earlier competitions,” said coach Jimmy King. “From our early-season races, we’ve learned what we do well and what we need to do better. Racing starts are an example. We’ve been a bit slow off the line, so we’ve worked on improving those first strokes of the race. Aside from working on elements of the race, we just continue to grind like everyone else this time of year.”
The Mountaineers have boats competing in the women’s varsity four, the women’s second varsity four, the women’s frosh/novice four, the women’s varsity eight and the women’s second varsity eight events. On Saturday, the first West Virginia crew is set to race in the women’s varsity four at 7:49 a.m. against Old Dominion, Fordhman, Massachusetts, Marist and Miami.
This weekend’s competition will be the third event of the spring for West Virginia.
Most recently, West Virginia completed in a series of races against North Carolina and Old Dominion on March 25, in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Lake Wheeler. The Mountaineers won three races and tallied five runner-up finishes against the Monarchs and Tar Heels on the 2,000 meter course. The morning races were highlighted by a first-place finish in the first novice four race.
“Unlike our last competition that featured dual racing, the six-lane regatta racing will be similar to what our crews will face at the Big 12 Championship,” King explained. “The coxswain has a lot more to take in throughout the race while the rowers almost have to block out the noise around them to focus on racing their boat well. We’ll also get a look at some of our Big 12 foes this weekend, which should give us an idea of how we compare at mid-season.”
Results will be available at Regattaworks.com following each day of competition.
Race Schedule:
Saturday, April 9 (Heat Time Slots)
7:49 a.m. – Women’s Varsity Four
8:59 a.m. – Women’s Second Varsity Four
9:28 a.m. – Women’s Frosh/Novice Four B
9:52 a.m. – Women’s Frosh/Novice Four A
10:52 a.m. – Women’s Varsity Eight
11:41 a.m. – Women’s Second Varsity Eight
Alumni Series | Louisa Morgan Hoogduin
Wednesday, April 15
Alumni Series | Rachel Viglianco Wagner
Monday, April 06
Alumni Series | Kate Brownson
Thursday, March 12
Alumni Series | Barb Navarini Higgins
Tuesday, February 24
