The Lakers pose with their 2009 SIRA Championship trophy.
ERIE, Pa. -- The Mercyhurst College women's varsity eight claimed sole possession of the nation's No. 1 ranking in this week's Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association/US Rowing weekly poll.
The Lakers were tied for first with four-time defending national champion Western Washington in last week's poll, but a dominating performance at the Souther Intercollegaite Rowing Assocation Championships this weekend gave Mercyhurst its second-straight gold-medal finish and four out of six first-place votes in the current poll.
The Lakers will defend their No. 1-ranking this weekend when they host No. 3 Dowling College and No. 4 Philadelphia University at the Gillard Rowing Center in Findley Lake, New York. The women’s varsity eight and the men’s lightweight varsity four enter regatta with a combined winning record of 51-0.
The racing is scheduled tentatively to begin at 9 a.m. with the men's varsity eight, followed by women's novice four, women's varsity four, women's varsity eight and men's varsity four.
Below is this week's poll and the tentative schedule for Sunday's regatta.
Women’s NCAA Division II Varsity Eights
Team (1st-Place Votes) Points Previous Week
1. Mercyhurst College (4) 28 1t
2. Western Washington University (2) 26 1t
3. Dowling College 17 3
4. Philadelphia University 11 4
5. Seattle Pacific University 6 5
Not Ranked But Receiving Votes: Nova Southeastern 2.
Sunday, April 26 Tentative Schedule
9:00 am - Men’s Varsity Eight
9:15 am - Women’s Novice Four
9:30 am - Women’s Varsity Four
9:45 am - Women’s Varsity Eight
10:00 am - Men’s Varsity Four
Directions to the Boathouse
Take I-90E to I-86E to the Findley Lake exit, and then take a right onto 426 to the blinker. Turn left into town (continuing on 426) and take a right at Sunnyside Road (still 426). Go 1/2 mile to the blue Mercyhurst Rowing sign. Take the driveway to the boathouse.