PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – Four Mercyhurst College boats advanced to the second day of the 72nd annual Aberdeen Dad Vail Regatta on the Schuylkill River, including the nation's No. 2 women's varsity eight.

Joining the women's varsity eight in the finals are the men's varsity lightweight eight and men's lightweight pair. The men's novice four also advanced to the second day of racing and will compete in the semifinals.

The women's varsity eight won its heat by a convincing margin, crossing the line nearly seven full seconds ahead of rival Philadelphia University in a time of 6:40.91.

The men's lightweight eight also took first in its heat, defeating Michigan by nearly seven full seconds to finish in a time of 6:14.71. The Lakers' preliminary race also featured St. Joseph's, Cal-Berkeley and Penn State.

The men's varsity pair will also race in the finals on Saturday after placing second (7:03.62) while the men's novice four must win on Saturday in the semifinals for the Lakers to qualify all four boats in their respective finals. Mercyhurst won its initial heat in a time of 6:52.99, crossing the line nearly 14 seconds ahead of second-place Penn State.

With 497 entries and over 30 states represented, the Lakers will try and best their record-setting performance from a year ago in which they claimed three gold medals in the women's varsity eight, the men's varsity lightweight four and the men's varsity pair.

Schedule Note: Saturday's finals were originally scheduled for a 1 p.m. start, but a weather forecast of high sustained and gusting winds tomorrow afternoon have forced officials to modify times. There will be compressed semifinal start times and earlier Final start times. Please visit dadvail.org for schedule changes and complete results.