May 9, 2003
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - The Santa Clara University men and women's varsity eight boats made their way into Saturday's semifinals after getting through the first two phases of the prestigious Dad Vail Regatta in Philadelphia, Pa.
On the men's side, the Broncos raced in one of six heats, with the winner from each heat advancing to the semifinals while the last place boat was ousted completely. All other boats move on to the repechage, which is a second chance to qualify. In the four repechage races, only the top three boats from each race advance on to the semis.
The women's draw had eight heats that saw the winning boat advance to Saturday and the last place boat eliminated from the competition. All other boats then competed in one of five repechage races that saw the top two boats from each race advance on to one of three semifinal races.
Santa Clara's men's varsity eight finished third in its heat with a time of 6:13.0, while Dowling won the heat in a time of 6:00.5, 7.1 seconds ahead of second place St. Josephs. In the third repechage race for the men's varsity, the Broncos finished second in its race, qualifying for the semifinals with a time of 6:01.9, just 2.9 seconds behind Georgia Tech.
The Bronco men will race out of row number one in semifinal number one at 10:51 a.m. Saturday morning. Only the top two boats from that race move on to the Grand Finals while boats three and four advance to the Petite Finals.
The Bronco women's varsity eight posted a time of 7:04.4 in heat two, 1/10 of a second faster than Army and 4/10 of a second faster than Grand Valley. UMass won the heat in a time of 6:50.7 and automatically advanced to the semifinals.
In the second repechage race for the women's varsity eight the Broncos won the race in a time of 6:52.0, their fastest time of the season. The win catapults them into one of three semifinal races that has them in lane five going up against Drake, Delaware, San Diego, Boston College and UConn on Saturday.
The Bronco women will race in semifinal number three at 10:44 a.m. Saturday morning. Only the top two boats from that race move on to the Grand Finals while boats three and four advance to the Petite Finals.
Following this weekend's races in Philadelphia, the Bronco men and women will conclude their 2002-2003 seasons with two competitions next weekend at Lake Natoma. The Broncos will race in the Pacific Coast Rowing Championships on Friday and Saturday before concluding the year at the Pac-10 Championships on Sunday.
