No. 4 Women’s Rowing Wins Backe Trophy and Bronze Medal at Dad Vail Regatta

5/13/2023 4:46:00 PM | By: Kyrin Mayfield | @k_mayfield97

Results
PENNSAUKEN, N.J. - The success in the water continued for No. 4 Embry-Riddle women's rowing as the Eagles placed first in Varsity 8 and third in Varsity 4 at the Dad Vail Regatta. All races were held on a 2,000-meter course on the Cooper River.

The Eagles' Varsity 8 boat secured a spot in the grand final on Friday, but Varsity 4 still needed to qualify on Saturday morning. Alexis Mathis (coxswain), Alexandria Fife-Winslow, Helena Schmidt, Aria Moses, and Briella Goldenberg were third after the start in semifinal 2 but eventually ran down RV Tampa. Embry-Riddle and No. 7 Jefferson pulled slightly away from the Spartans, and the Eagles were able to grab the lead with about 500 meters to go. Tampa put on a late charge, but the Blue and Gold held on to win by just .626 seconds with a mark of 8:16.095 to move on to the grand final.

In the afternoon, the Varsity 4 shell returned to the water for its final race of the regatta. The Eagles were last in the six-boat field at the 500 meter mark, but they were able to move through the field and into third. Once again, Tampa charged hard in the final meters, but Embry-Riddle held on for the bronze medal, setting a time of 8:05.602. No. 5 Mercyhurst (7:37.194) won the race by a lengthy 22.6 seconds over No. 7 Jefferson (7:59.850). Embry-Riddle edged out both RV Tampa (8:06.364) and RV D'Youville (8:07.788) and also defeated RV Rollins (8:20.520).

It was the second medal of the season for Fife-Winslow, Schmidt, Moses, and Goldenberg while Mathis grabbed her third piece of hardware.

Lastly, Megan Byrne (coxswain), Shelby Ernst, Kendra Sander, Soleil Edwards, Sofia Lorenzini, Reagan Hurt, Alexandra Weilert, Veronika Zdrazil, and Kristen Vigna took home the Backe Trophey as they soundly won by 9.3 seconds in Varsity 8. Though No. 7 Jefferson challenged the Eagles early on, the Blue and Gold were able to continuously pull away, finishing with a time of 6:50.379. Embry-Riddle also bested Rollins (7:07.538).

The victory marked the second time this year an Eagle Eight boat won a gold medal or trophy. ERAU won in Varsity 8 at the Sunshine State Conference Championship a few weeks ago.

Embry-Riddle now must wait and see if it is one of the six programs selected to compete in the NCAA II Championship in Pennsauken, New Jersey from May 26-27. The selection show will air on Tuesday, May 16th at 5:30 p.m. on NCAA.com.

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