Written by Jamie Francis, Assistant Rowing Coach

WEST WINDSOR, N.J. – The Mercyhurst University women's and lightweight men's rowing teams combined forces at The Knecht Cup this weekend and came away with one gold and three silver medals.  Saturday's high winds drastically changed the race schedule, forcing many of the events to be run on Sunday only.

The Men's Second Varsity Four was one of the few boats that was able to race their heat on Saturday, beating Boston College by 11.72 seconds, while also finishing ahead of New York Maritime and Fordham University.  Sunday's final pitted the Lakers against George Mason University, University of Rhode Island, Boston College, Lehigh University, and University of Maryland.  Mercyhurst finished in second place, 3.11 seconds behind George Mason.

The Men's Varsity Four – DII/III won their Sunday morning heat by finishing 3.55 seconds ahead of Rollins College.  The Lakers faced Rollins again in the final, along with John Stockton University, Wentworth Institute of Technology, Bowdoin College, and Philadelphia University.  Mercyhurst would battle with the Tars of Rollins College down the course and would finish 6.42 seconds ahead of them, winning with a final time of 6:58.11.

The men's freshman lightweight eight competed in the heavyweight event for Men's Frosh/Novice Eight on Sunday and won their heat by finishing 11.14 seconds in front of Bucknell University.  With the third fastest time of the four heats, the frosh eight progressed to the afternoon's final where they lined up with Drexel University, Trinity College, University of Delaware's lightweights, and LaSalle University.  Drexel would take the win, with 5.22 seconds separating the Dragons from the Lakers, who finished with a silver medal.

The only other Mercyhurst boat to race their heat on Saturday was the women's eight, who competed in the Women's Club Eight – DI/II event.  After beating #4 ranked Nova Southeastern in the heat, the #5 ranked Lakers lined up against Nova, #1 Barry University, #7 Philadelphia, Florida Institute of Technology, and University of Pittsburgh for Sunday's final.  Mercyhurst finished 2.45 seconds behind Barry to take the silver medal.

"I'm very pleased with our results from this weekend," said head coach Adrian Spracklen.  "The crews that raced on Saturday handled the conditions well, and we came away with a few medals for our efforts.  We still have a lot of work to do, but I'm excited to see how the spring progresses." 

The women's team will travel to Buffalo, New York next weekend to race two Division I opponents, Eastern Michigan University and Duquesne University.

Line-Ups
Women's Club Four – DII/III
C - Chelsea Guida
S - Elizabeth Hook
3 - Alexandra Kleckner
2 - Taylor Rider
B - Mairead Manke

Men's Second Varsity Four
C - Ryan Baniszewski
S - Amel Younis
3 - Sam Rouse
2 - Douglas Riethmuller
B - Steven Chica

Men's Varsity Four - DII/III
C - Kevin McCarthy
S - Aaron Dowd
3 - Gary Loo
2 - Jake Lennon
B - Harrison Kieffer
 
Men's Lightweight Four
C - Brian Comey
S - Milos Veres
3 - Nicholas Wnek
2 - Jonathan Blazevic
B - Blaze Kelly
 
Men's Frosh/Novice Eight
C - Charles Hummel
S - Jonas Weller
7 - Galen Bernick
6 - Nemanja Uzanovic
5 - Patrick Salvatore
4 - Zackary Ghalayini
3 - Bernardo Ramirez
2 - Anthony Delgreco
B - Danny Madden
 
Women's Club Eight - DI/II
C - Margaret Kneuer
S - Florentine Baron
7 - Hanna Schumacher
6 - Kristine Wright
5 - Leyla Dombrowski
4 - Abigail Rinard
3 - Maggie Switzer
2 - Leah Griffin
B - Kate Castonguay