The Lehigh University rowing team capped off an impressive season this past Saturday at the Aberdeen Dad Vail Regatta in Philadelphia. The highlight for the Mountain Hawks was the Men’s Freshman Eight, which made it the semifinals.
Lehigh finished fifth in the semis with a time of 6:30.06, 18 seconds behind first-place Virginia. Virginia went on to finish third in the finals behind Drexel and champion Purdue.
"It was a tough race," Lehigh head coach Brian Conley said. "Having been the lone crew on the day gives a great deal of hope for the future from such a good group of student-athletes. "
The Mountain Hawks had an impressive start to the two-day rowing event. The finished in second place during heat number two with a time of 6:35.28 which propelled it into the semis.
"Overall, I think we definitely outperformed where we were expected, so there were a lot of positive feelings," Conley said. "That’s great to grow upon. You always want to put yourself in position to win. We still have some work to do, but it was a very positive weekend and step forward for the program."
Lehigh’s Women’s Freshman Four also had a competitive showing, missing qualifiers by less than four seconds behind second-place Jacksonville.