May 8, 2004

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - The Bucknell women's crew headed to Philadelphia, Pa., this weekend to compete on the Schuylkill River in the Dad Vail Regatta, the largest collegiate regatta in the United States. The Bison turned in one of the best performances in program history, advancing four of five boats to the semifinals from Friday to Saturday.

The lone BU boat that did not advance to a race on Saturday was the pair of Courtney Luzzi and Caitlin Scudder. Luzzi and Scudder, having only practiced together on the river for the past few weeks due to high water, still turned in their best race to date with a heat time of 8:56.1.

The novice four of coxswain Caitlin Feigenbaum, Marianne Prabhu, Rachel Goldstein, Susan Shadle and Ashley Kalinske put together an impressive heat race, becoming one of six boats to qualify for the semifinals with a time of 8:06.1 on Friday. The crew was in fourth place in its heat with a quarter of the race to go, before pulling into second to beat Georgia by a mere 2.6 seconds. The same group bettered its time in the semifinal race, finishing in a time of 8:02.5.

With a time of 7:00.9, the Bison novice eight of coxswain Julia Keyser, stroke Christine Drasba, Tabitha Smith, Danielle Monteverde, Kathryn Wood, Jenna Goldstein, Meredith Henry, Megan Chapin and bow Laura Roberts finished third in their heat, advancing to the semi's for the second-straight year. The squad headed into a very competitive semifinal race and bettered their time with a 6:59.5.

In the open weight race, the premier event for the team, Bucknell had an impressive run, advancing to the semifinals for the first time in school history. Coxswain Mary Kellam, stroke Rebecca Newman, Meredith Cutting, Lisa Kim, Jessica Noonan, Elizabeth Marut, Jennifer Prunoske, Ashley White and bow Allison DeKnight finished their heat in 7:38.1. Needing a third place finish or higher in the quarterfinals, the Bison came in third in a time of 6:55.6, beating out Fairfield by just under two seconds. The Stags had rowed 21 seconds faster than the Orange and Blue in the first heat.

Bucknell's only boat to reach a final this year was the lightweight eight of coxswain Kyra Harris, stroke Jill Harrington, Joan Wendler, Lauren Olsen, Vi Ngo, Lauren Ewald, Amanda Roof, Teal Zeisler, and bow Rachel Trusheim. The crew was in a six-boat final on Saturday, and turned in a silver medal performance with a time of 6:57.59. The reigning champion crew was runner-up to Purdue, last year's second-place squad, which was victorious with a 6:51.07. The Bison did defeat a strong Central Florida crew (7:02.16).

Bucknell continues the championship portion of its schedule with competition at the IRA Championship Regatta on Friday and Saturday, June 4-5, in Cherry Hill, N.J.