May 13, 2011

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - A cross-country trip to Philadelphia did nothing to slow down LMU as three boats won their Friday heats and four boats advanced to the semifinals at the Dad Vail Regatta on the Schuylkill River. On the women's side, the pair boat of Shannon Craig and Mary Foster earned the Lions' first win of the day and they were joined in victory by Chris Erhart in the women's single. On the men's side, the lightweight four rowed to victory while the men's pair of Bo BreitReed and Kyle Hutchison also advanced to the semifinals.

The women's pair of Craig and Foster cruised to a 14-second victory in their heat to easily advance to Saturday's semifinal. Craig and Foster finished in 8:21.25 with West Virginia second in 8:35.14. Georgia Tech was third in 8:37.13, followed by Bowdoin (8:42.37), Hofstra (8:58.86), and Washington University (9:30.20).

BreitReed and Hutchison, who won the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association title two weekends ago, qualified for the men's pair semifinals by virtue of their third-place finish on Friday. The Lions finished in 7:50.51 to move on to Saturday's semis. Drexel won that heat in 7:32.65, with Old Dominion second in 7:46.60. Chapman (8:04.71) placed fourth, Philadelphia University (8:23.60) was fifth, and Duquesne (8:32.26) was sixth.

Erhart made it back-to-back LMU heat victories for the women by rowing to a win in the women's single to advance to Saturday's Final. Erhart posted a time of 8:45.65, outpacing Oklahoma City by six seconds. Duquesne (9:03.52) was third, followed by UMass (9:14.10), and Bucknell (9:29.38). With no semifinals scheduled, Erhart advances straight to the final.

The men's lightweight four was the final LMU boat to race in the heats and gave the Lions three wins on the day with a three-second victory in 7:05.58. Delware (7:08.53) placed second, followed by Michigan State (7:14.39), Carnegie Mellon (7:15.48), Lafayette (7:16.85), and John Carroll (7:30.10).

Erhart will race for the women's single final at 10:45 a.m. on Saturday. The semifinal action begins at 8:39 a.m. on Saturday with Craig and Foster rowing in the first women's pair semifinal. The top two finishers in each semifinal will advance to the Final at 2:23 p.m. At 8:53 a.m., the men's pair will compete in the second semifinal for a chance to move on to the final for the Bob Negaard Cup at 2:33 p.m. The men's lightweight four will be the next in the morning to go off, rowing in the second semifinal at 9:13 a.m. The top three boats in each of those semis will then race for the James J. Lynch Trophy in the final at 3:13 p.m.

Dad Vail Championships
Friday, May 13, 2011
Schuylkill River (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)

- GO LIONS -