Crew at the Kerr Cup in Philadelphia

Army West Point Crew continued their strong spring season at the Kerr Cup in Philadelphia on the Schuylkill River, competing against 35 other collegiate programs from across the county, including NCAA women’s teams and highly-ranked DIV-1 varsity men’s programs. Army entered 11 events, sending 9 boats to Grand Finals, including all of the Eights races – the premier category in the sport. The Varsity Women’s Pair won their heat in the varsity pair event with the fastest time of the morning. As the top seed in the Grand Final, the women experienced a seat mal-function at the start, but were still able to finish in 5th place ahead of one crew in the race. In the Grand Finals, The Novice Women’s Four took 4th, just .15 seconds from the bronze medal positon, ahead of the crews from NYU and Rutgers Camden. The Novice Men’s Four came up less than a second short of consecutive 1st place finishes, just behind the top-ranked Delaware LWT crew, defeating hometown favorites Drexel and Villanova in the process. The Novice Men’s Eight finished their Grand Final race with a time of 5:59.01, just behind the gold medal shell from Drexel, but ahead of the Delaware team that beat them in the heats earlier in the day. The Novice Women brought home the first gold for Army at the Kerr Cup since 2009, crossing the line in 6:52.8, two and a half boat lengths in front of the next closest competitor. The gold medal boat was coxed by CDT Xiao Pfohman, and powered by CDTs Mary Bahr, Lauren Hudak, Natalie Nepa, Hannah Makuch, Hannah Wentland, Lauren Pile, Margaret Gleason, and Amanda Kuruc at the stroke position. The Men’s Second Varsity Four placed 2nd in a finals only race, bested only by Fordham, and ahead of Temple, Rochester, Mary Washington and NY Maritime. The Men’s Second Varsity Eight sprinted to a 5th place finish just seconds behind the top crews, beating the Gonzaga boat at the line. The Varsity Women Eight had a strong first row of the season making the Grand Finals in a field of 16, beating the Patriot League Lehigh boat, and in close contact with an all-NCAA field including Temple, Fordham, Drexel, and St Josephs. The Men’s Varsity Eight finished in the bronze medal position, just behind the 12th ranked (nationally) Drexel boat. In the process, the Army crew defeated St Josephs’ top eight, marking an 8 second swing from the previous weekend’s result at the Knecht Cup. As a result of their strong performance, all four Eights were ranked in the top 10 in the nation in the American Collegiate Rowing Association poll. In preparation for the nationals, Army will host their only home event of the spring, the Faunce Cup, against Penn State University, beginning at 0800 at the Caufield Crew Center on Saturday, 23 May. The team will then leave the next day for a dual meet with Marist in Poughkeepsie for the President’s Cup.