By Jamie Francis, Mercyhurst Rowing assistant coachMERCER, N.J. – The women and lightweight men of Mercyhurst University competed for the Knecht Cup this weekend and earned gold medals in two events and silver medals in two events. The women earned silver medals in the Club Four – DI / II event and in the Club Eight – DI / II event. The lightweight men came away with gold medals in the Varsity Pair event and the Lightweight Four event.
The two-day regatta saw Mercyhurst advance to the finals in every event entered. On Saturday, the Women's Four of
Breellen Plucknett,
Jessica Garver,
Kate Moran,
Alexandra Kleckner, and
Molly Harrald won their heat with a time of 7:53.8, besting Virginia Commonwealth University by more than six seconds. Sunday's final brought calm conditions in which Mercyhurst was able to capitalize on and finish ahead of VCU again to earn a second-place finish behind Bowdoin College.
Saturday's heat for the Women's Eight pitted Mercyhurst against Division II rivals Rollins College and regional rival Charleston College. Mercyhurst's entry of
Allissa Porter,
Hanna Schumacher,
Alexis Theuret,
Maggie Switzer,
Leyla Dombrowski,
Taylor Rider,
Kate Castonguay,
Elizabeth Hook, and
Mairead Manke won their heat by finishing ahead of Rollins by more than nine seconds. Mercyhurst would face another regional opponent in the final when they lined up against Philadelphia University. The Rams of Philadelphia proved to be just 1.9 seconds quicker than the Lakers on Sunday to force Mercyhurst to settle for a silver medal.
On the men's side, Mercyhurst entered a lightweight pair into the Varsity Pair event. With the crew of
Sam Rouse and
Zack Pappas, Mercyhurst was able to sail through Saturday's heats and semifinals. Sunday's final proved to be more of a challenge for Mercyhurst, but the Lakers were still able to pull out a win over High Point University and West Virginia University, with a 20-second gap between first and second place.
Mercyhurst's other gold medal came in one of the closer races of the regatta; the Men's Lightweight Four. The boat – made up of
Kevin McCarthy,
Blaze Kelly,
Ben Urbanowski,
Jake Lennon, and
Mitch Fairer – won Saturday's heat with a time of 7:06.1 to beat out Lafayette College. Sunday's final would pit Mercyhurst against Lafayette and VCU again, and this race finished in the same order as the heat - Mercyhurst, Lafayette, VCU.
The men's lightweight eight also raced this weekend in the Varsity Heavyweight Eight category. Saturday's heats put Mercyhurst third behind Hobart College and Marist College, but ahead of George Mason University, Villanova University, and LaSalle University. The third-place finish in the heats put
Brian Comey,
Milos Veres,
Xavier Alexander,
Gary Loo,
Amel Younis,
Nicholas Wnek,
Robert Long,
Jonathan Blazevic, and
Samuel Sheridan in the semifinal against fast competition from Ithaca College and Delaware University. The semifinal results put Mercyhurst into the third final with a revised line-up. The changes proved beneficial as the Lakers finished ahead of Fordham University and the University of Rhode Island.
"Overall, this was a good weekend," said Mercyhurst head coach
Adrian Spracklen. "We're seeing our speed develop over the course of the spring as we gain more time on the water. There were certainly some disappointing performances, but we will stay focused on our achievements of this weekend and our long-term goals that we hope to realize in a month's time."
You can see complete results at RegattaWorks.com and you can follow both teams on Twitter @HurstRowing. Both the women and lightweight men will travel to Buffalo this Friday to race Canisius College in a Good Friday dual.
