By Isabelle Hahn, news staff
The Northeastern women’s rowing team began its season Saturday with an impromptu yet successful visit to the 35th Memorial Murphy Cup Regatta on the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia.
The Huskies topped University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) for first place in the grand final varsity eight event, pulling ahead by four seconds with juniors Haley Doucette at coxswain and Madison Mailey in stroke seat with a time of 6 minutes, 19.05 seconds. The victory was not surprising after Northeastern finished first in its heat earlier in the day with a 12 second win over the University of Delaware.
After coming back from spring break training in Sarasota, Florida, the team realized Boston’s wintery weather conditions would not allow them to prepare effectively for the upcoming season.
“We had not planned to attend this regatta,” said NU head coach Joe Wilhelm. “This regatta was entered as a way to prepare for the racing season.”
Despite lack of expectations, the Huskies came back with more than just practice from their surprise spring debut: They came back with a victory.
After placing second in their heat with a time of 7:35.94, the varsity four reached the grand final and finished fourth with their best time of the day, 7:18.49. UPenn placed first a meager four seconds earlier followed by Navy and Lafayette.
Both the second varsity four and second varsity eight reached the grand as well. The second varsity took bronze behind UPenn and Navy, while the second varsity four finished fifth overall.
“We knew how we wanted to race, the team went down and did a really great job,” Wilhelm said. “We were really happy with how our crews finished,” Wilhelm said.
This weekend, the Huskies will travel to Camden, New Jersey, for the Orange Challenge Cup, the oldest race in women’s collegiate rowing. The team is oriented toward improving racing tactics this spring season as they gear up to face crews from colleges, including UPenn, Navy, University of Rhode Island, Rutgers, Syracuse and Boston University.
“We need to put together a more detailed race plan, make more strategic strokes,” Wilhelm said.
