PHILADELPHIA – The La Salle University men’s rowing team had a banner day on the Schuylkill River Saturday, as the varsity eight and second varsity eight both earned victories over defending Dad Vail champion Drexel in their spring season-opening performance.
QUOTE FROM COACH KRAKIC
“Great racing by all crews! The team has shown a clear step up in training from last season and we managed to reproduce it in race conditions. We have laid down a solid benchmark early in the season, indicating a good baseline that we can work from. I am excited to see how we progress this year as we transition into more speed work!”
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Explorers, who are coming off a historic season that saw both the varsity eight and second varsity eight finish in the top 20 nationally at Intercollegiate Rowing Association National Championships last year, started off slowly in the first race of the day.
- The Dragons opened up an early lead from the start, before La Salle began to mount a charge.
- With graduate student coxswain Trevor Fawcett directing the crew, the Explorers walked through the Dragons boat that opened the year two weeks ago with wins over nationally-ranked Oregon State and UC San Diego.
- By the end, La Salle’s top boat closed a full length in front of Drexel’s group in a lightning-fast time of 5:30.5.
- The second varsity eight, coxed by Dominic Mazza, followed up the first varsity’s performance with a win of their own over Drexel by a mere 1.2 seconds.
- In the third and final race of the day, La Salle’s varsity 4 finished third.
UP NEXT
- La Salle continues a tough early stretch of the season on Saturday, March 23 with a dual race against Georgetown.
RESULTS
Varsity 8+ Race
- La Salle – 5:30.5
- Drexel 1V – 5:32.3
- Drexel 3V – 5:52.4
Second Varsity 8+ Race
- La Salle – 5:44.8
- Drexel 2V – 5:46.08
- Drexel 4V – 6:27.37
Varsity 4+ Race
- Drexel V4 – 6:39
- Drexel JV4 – 7:07
- La Salle – 7:28
