The Santa Clara women's crew team ended the 2006-2007 season with a fourth place overall finish at the Dad Vail Regatta in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania this past weekend.
Thirty-three varsity teams from all over the country competed for the Varsity 8 Evelyn Bergman Trophy. On Friday, the first day of racing, Santa Clara won its first heat in a time of 6:58.85, giving the women a lot of confidence and advancing them directly to Saturday's semifinals. In the six-boat semifinals they were placed with Purdue, who had posted the fastest time during the Friday heats. The Broncos finished 6:35.17, five seconds back of the winner, Purdue.
Later that afternoon they lined up against St. Joseph's, University of Massachusetts, Purdue, Ohio State, Tulsa and Fordham. It was a tight race all the way down the course with five boats competing for the top three spots. The Broncos made a hard push to challenge for third, but finished 2.8 seconds back to come in fourth; with first going to St. Joseph's, second to Purdue and third to the University of Massachusetts.
Santa Clara's second varsity boat competed against 20 boats for the Varsity 8 Coleman Boyland Trophy. In their first heat the Broncos had a solid performance finishing in third place, 0.3 seconds behind second place finish St. Joseph's, which qualified them for the semifinals. In the semifinals the women had a tough time getting the same boat speed they showed in the previous heats, and finished in sixth place with a time of 7:01.96. "It was a good weekend of racing for the second varsity boat, getting the experience of traveling across the country to compete against well established crews will pay off next season," said head coach Carlo Facchino.
"Having two boats make the trip to Philadelphia kept everyone motivated all year long. If it were not for the second varsity boat working hard everyday and pushing the varsity boat I do not think we would have accomplished what we did," said Facchino. "It was an invaluable experience for both boats. Even though we are graduating five seniors, we will be returning 14 rowers who all have a better understanding of what it takes to compete at a big regatta like Dad Vail."
This season has been very successful for the Bronco women, who finished in second place in the West Coast Conference, earned an eighth-place finish for both Varsity 8 and the second Varsity 8 in the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships, and to cap off their season, a fourth-place finish at the Dad Vail Regatta.
Varsity 8+ GRAND FINAL
1. Purdue - 6:31.36
2. St. Joseph - 6:34.49
3. Massachusetts - 6:37.35
4. Santa Clara - 6:40.17
5. Ohio State - 6:44.97
6. Tulsa - 6:54.88
7. Fordham - 6:59.01
Varsity 8+ Semi-Final
1. Purdue - 6:30.01
2. Santa Clara - 6:35.17
3. Dayton - 6:44.04
4. UConn - 6:45.69
5. Alabama - 6:47.01
6. Villanova - 6:52.51
Varsity 8+ Heat
1. Santa Clara - 6:58.85
2. Fordham - 7:03.64
3. Temple - 7:04.01
4. Army - 7:09.82
5. Robert Morris - 7:14.47
6. Michigan St. - 7:36.62
2nd Varsity 8+ Semifinal
1. Dayton - 6:47.81
2. Purdue - 6:50.19
3. Temple - 6:51.04
4. George Mason - 6:51.14
5. Tulsa - 6:51.45
6. Santa Clara - 7:01.96
2nd Varsity 8+ Heat
1. Tulsa - 7:05.67
2. St. Joseph - 7:08.05
3. Santa Clara - 7:08.36
4. UConn - 7:22.64
5. Loyola - 7:29.57
