Billy Tyler

Assistant Sports Editor

The men’s crew and women’s rowing teams will begin their seasons this upcoming weekend at the Murphy Cup Regatta. Both teams are coming off highly successful seasons; the women’s team is the defending Patriot League Champion and the men’s team won the silver medal at the ACRA National Championships.

The women’s rowing team has very high expectations for this season. The seven-time defending Patriot League champions have been ranked first in the league’s Preseason Poll. Additionally, the team looks to repeat as overall team champions in the Aberdeen Dad Vail Regatta and improve its performance at the season-ending NCAA and IRA regattas.

The team has a difficult road ahead of them en route to an eighth straight Patriot League title. The team’s challenging schedule features dual races against Drexel, Penn, Columbia, Georgetown Lightweights, Princeton Lightweights and Delaware, as well as the Knecht Cup, Dad Vail, Patriot League Championship and IRA Lightweight regattas.

“The women have been working very hard and we have a challenging racing schedule so it will be great to see the team in action soon,” head coach Stephen Kish said.

The men’s crew team also has high expectations after coming off a historic season, which concluded with silver medal performances at both the ECAC and ACRA National Championships. The team has been training hard over the winter in preparation for the season.

“Throughout winter training, our freshmen and sophomores pushed our upperclassmen on the ergs and on the water, which had created a great on-water racing dynamic. I expect this trend to continue with young talent taking seats in the top two eight’s and those two eight’s to vie for medals at our championship regattas,” head coach Al Monte said.

The team recently returned from a Spring Break training trip in Columbia, S.C. and is ready to kick off its spring schedule, which is filled with tough competition and includes dual races against Hobart, Drexel, Williams and Holy Cross and regatta appearances at the Murphy Cup, San Diego Crew Classic, Knecht Cup, ECAC Championship and the ACRA National Championships.

The Murphy Cup Regatta will be held Saturday on the Cooper River in Camden, New Jersey.