Boston College: Successful Weekend Capped By Knecht Cup Medals

WEST WINDSOR TOWNSHIP, NJ - After seeing all crews advance out of the Knecht Cup heats on Saturday, the Boston College rowing team recorded a successful Sunday that was highlighted by two gold medals, a silver medal and a trio of bronze medals in the grand final of the Knecht Cup, held on Mercer Lake in West Windsor Township, New Jersey.

The Eagles took gold in the Women's Frosh/Novice Four grand final in addition to a first place finish in the Varsity Four event. They earned silver in the Varsity Eight and three bronze medals in the grand final of the Second Varsity Four, Second Varsity Eight and Third Varsity Eight, respectively.

Head coach Steve Fiske said of the team's performance, "This was the best team finish in program
history.  At the beginning of the year, the team set a goal for all boats to medal at Knecht, and it was great to see them achieve this."

BC's first medal was taken in the grand final of the Women's Frosh/Novice Four, where the Eagles finished with a time of 7:51.73, holding out the squads from Pittsburgh, Massachusetts, Lafayette, Holy Cross and West Virginia, the team's five competitors in the event.



The maroon and gold rowed to a gold medal in the Varsity Four grand final, barely beating out ACC foe North Carolina by less than a half a second to win the team's second gold medal of the afternoon. In the photo finish, the Eagles took first with a time of 7:30.30, ahead of the Tar Heel's boat, who crossed the finish at 7:30.78. Princeton rounded out the top three, placing 3:09 seconds behind BC.


In the grand final of the Second Varsity Four event, the squad from The Heights held off Alabama's "A" boat by three seconds to take a bronze medal. With a time of 7:45.88, the Eagles only trailed Kansas (7:32.33) and Bucknell "A" (7:42.51) in the final race of the weekend for the 2V4 squad.



The Eagles won bronze medals in the grand final of both the Second and Third Varsity Eight events. In the Second Varsity Eight event, BC's time of 6:53.52 was edged out by only in-state rival Massachusetts (6:47.17) and Kansas (6:49.00). The Third Varsity Eight squad took third place in a time of 7:09.75, behind the team's of Bucknell "A" (7:05.95) and Kansas (7:08.47).





In the final competition of the day, the Eagles earned a silver medal with their second place finish in the grand final of the Varsity Eight event. BC took second with a time of 6:51.10, defeated only by Tulsa, who had completed the 2000m course in a time of 6:48.61.



Lineups from this weekend's races will be posted later today ...


After a weekend spent in New Jersey, the squad returns to the waters next weekend when they take on Boston University and Rhode Island on the Charles River course next Saturday, April 16.