Columbia
Navy
Women's Rowing Takes Home Howard W. Wilkins Bowl at George Washington Invitational
4/11/2009 3:00:00 PM | Women's Rowing
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- In the most impressive of fashions, the Columbia University women's crew took home the Howard W. Wilkins Bowl, awarded to the women's side that accumulates the most points at the George Washington Invitational Regatta. The Lions dropped just one race through the two-day event, and took home victories over Georgetown and Navy on the final day of competition in the varsity eights.
Prior to this season, the highest finish from the women were two sixth-place finishes in 2002 and 2003. Overall, the team won 11 races over squads from Saint Joseph's, Navy, Georgetown and George Washington. Despite not having the benefit of a men's crew to accumulate points for the overall championship, the women's fine performance helped the Lions to second in the race for the Gilbert H. Hood Jr. Point Trophy.
"Every race was a challenge for us," head coach Melanie Onufrieff said of the weekend's events. "Every opponent pushed us. The chance to win three times and to learn a little more about your crew each time was really tremendous. This was a really good regatta!"
Columbia slipped past Georgetown in the varsity eight race, then dropped the Hoyas in the second varsity eight, varsity four and novice eight competitions to begin the day. Against Navy in the afternoon, the Lions finished the novice eight and second varsity eight races in times that were the fastest in the field on the afternoon. The novices finished in a time of 6:37.8, while the second varsity closed in 6:27.8.
The varsity eight crew continued its dominance of the field, winning its third consecutive race of the weekend by a little more than a half a boatlength over the Midshipmen.
The women's crew will take next weekend off before returning to action on Saturday, April 25 at the Dunn Bowl in Providence, R.I., where it will take on Brown and Cornell.
George Washington Invitational Regatta
Columbia vs. Georgetown Results
Varsity Eight
Columbia, 6:46.3
Georgetown, 6:51.6
Second Varsity Eight
Columbia, 6:49.3
Georgetown, 7:00.4
Varsity Four
Columbia, 7:54.8
Georgetown, 8:24.9
Novice Eight
Columbia, 6:50.5
Georgetown, 7:07.0
Columbia vs. Navy Results
Varsity Eight
Columbia, 6:23.9
Navy, 6:29.7
Second Varsity Eight
Columbia, 6:27.8
Navy, 6:39.1
Varsity Four
Navy A, 7:10.4
Columbia, 7:22.5
Novice Eight
Columbia, 6:37.8
Navy, 6:44.7
