After a successful beginning to their 2014 spring season at the Murphy Cup on March 29, the women’s rowing team pulled in six victories after facing Temple and Drexel on April 5.

Competing on the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia, Pa., the squad faced off with Temple first in the morning. Out of the six races, the Bison captured four. The Orange and Blue Varsity Eight and the Lightweight Eight secured first (6:48.71) and second (6:49.71), respectively, in the Varsity Eight race. The Bison also took the lead in the Second Varsity Eight (6:57.94) and Freshman Eight (7:14.54).

“This past weekend was a successful competitive effort for the women’s rowing teams,” Victoria Kielty ’14 said. “The women’s team had a very strong showing across the board from Varsity Open and Lightweight to Freshman Open and Lightweight boats. It is always challenging to compete with such a large team and maintain a trend of success throughout, but the women had another great weekend against some of our primary Dad Vail competition.”

After Temple, the Orange and Blue challenged Drexel in the afternoon. They weren’t as successful as they were in the morning races, but they were able to excel in two of the five races. The Second Freshman Eight finished at the top in 7:51.57 while the Second Varsity Eight finished first in 6:51.70, more than 16 seconds ahead of their competition. The Second Varsity Eight boat was also the only boat for the Bison that won twice, both against Temple and Drexel.

“Some of the highlights included the Lightweight Varsity 8 keeping pace, and challenging the Openweight Varsity the entire way down the 2k course for both the Temple and the Drexel races,” Kielty said. “These women are at a 40-pound weight deficit (on average) when competing against openweight crews, and our lightweights continually–under the instruction of Coach Heather Barney–remain competitive with fast Division 1 openweight athletes.”

The team will return back to the water tomorrow and Sunday for the Knecht Cup in West Windsor, N.J.