MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University rowing team opened its fall season with two first-place finishes on Saturday, Oct. 4, at the Head of the Ohio Regatta in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
"We had some good results and a few miscues on an overall good day of racing," coach
Jimmy King said. "I'm especially happy with how our team handled the unexpected occurrences through the course of the day. From short-notice lineup changes to a mid-racing equipment issue, our team responded well."
The Mountaineers started the day in dominant fashion sweeping the top two spots of the Novice 4+. Freshman
Emily Gubbins coxed one of WVU's entries to first place with a time of 15:19:079. Following close behind was freshman coxswain
Lauren Keyser's crew in second (15:44:397).
Their showings placed them well ahead of the rest of the field, with the next closest competitor finishing more than a minute later.
WVU would remain at the top, securing three of the top four finishes of the Open 4+ with 25 entries. Senior coxswain
Grace Holliday's crew led the way with a time of 15:22:240. They were followed by a senior coxswain
Grace Terlion-led boat, which finished second (15:45:73). Fourth place was claimed by senior coxswain
Grace Fay and her crew (16:04:289). The fourth and fifth WVU entries of the division were coxed by freshman
Giada Fassacesia (11
th/17:05:343) and sophomore
Olivia Pennington (17
th/17:36:604).
West Virginia's last event of the day saw two Mountaineer boats finish in the top four. Holliday's crew finished third (14:45:268), while Terlion's boat finished fourth (14:46:009). The last two entries for WVU came in at ninth (junior
Marley Sullivan/15:26:710) and 12
th (Pennington/15:41:051).
"The Head of the Ohio was a useful checkpoint in our training," King said. "We know we have a lot of work ahead of us and areas for improvement and at this early point of the year, that's exciting! We're very thankful to all our families who made the trip to spend part of Fall Family Weekend with us at the Head of the Ohio. We hope to see you again at the Head of the Occoquan."
More information about the Head of the Ohio can be found
HERE.
West Virginia will return to the water Nov. 1 for the Head of the Occoquan, at Sandy Run Regional Park, in Fairfax Station, Virginia.
