The West Virginia University rowing team competed at the Knecht Cup Regatta on April 11-12 in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. The event brought together a large field of teams from across the country, including Boston University, Drexel, and Wisconsin.
The regatta is considered an important early season race that helps with seeding boats for the main portion of the racing season. Weather conditions affected Saturday’s races with a cross tailwind causing delays and issues at the start line, while Sunday saw smoother racing under a light headwind.
Head coach Jimmy King said, “Not unlike many teams, we’re still working through different lineup combinations among our crews. The larger regattas we’re attending this year are providing valuable, multiple racing opportunities for our young team this season to learn and develop. We’ll take the lessons learned this weekend and apply them over the next two weeks as we work towards the Lake Wheeler Invite.”
West Virginia’s second varsity four (2V4) had three entries in their event. The 2V4 A finished third in its heat and later placed sixth in its Petite Final. The 2V4 B took second place behind Drexel in its heat and repeated that result behind UConn in its Petite Final. The 2V4 C finished fourth in its heat and sixth in its final.
Associate head coach Tina Griffith said, “The fours group took full advantage of the multiple races to develop and further their race plans and tenacity. I am really proud of their willingness to embrace and work through all the challenges presented over the weekend and to come out successful.” In other events, WVU’s first varsity four (1V4) narrowly missed qualifying for grand finals but won their Petite Final with a time of 8:29.2.
Other Mountaineer boats faced strong competition throughout heats and finals but showed improvements as races progressed into Sunday sessions. The Knecht Cup also marked repeat matchups against several teams previously encountered earlier this season.
Lineups for each boat included student-athletes such as Nikolina Djordjevic (1V8), Lucille Pratt (2V8), Annabelle Wagner (3V8), Lauren Jones (1V4), Hope Deegan (2V4 A), Campbell Gettier (2V4 B), and Samantha Spencer (2V4 C). More information about results can be found on official event pages.
