April 15, 2007

CAMDEN, N.J. - Strong performances by the Dayton Flyers' Varsity 8 and Second Varsity 8 highlighted UD's performance at the Knecht Cup on Saturday.

The Second Varsity Eight started off the day strong winning their heat with a time of 7:11.8 defeating Kansas, Boston College, Connecticut and LaSalle. In the grand final, UD completed the race in fourth with a time of 7:15.6.

Meanwhile, the Varsity Eight finished in finished the equivalent of 8th in the petite final rowing a time of 7:06.8. The Flyers were a mere 1.8 seconds behind North Carolina for first and the Varsity 8 defeated Buffalo, Marist, Colgate and Connecticut.

UD's Varsity 8 advanced to the semifinals after finishing in third in their qualifying heat with a time of 7:02.0. In the semifinals, the Varsity 8 finished in fourth with a time of 7:03.9.

Head Coach Mike Farrey believed the performances by the Second Varsity Eight and Varsity Eight will serve as a springboard for the Flyers heading into next weekend.

"We hope to take the momentum from this weekend and finish our season strongly at the Atlantic 10 championship next weekend," Farrey said.

Due to bad weather forecast for Sunday, the schedule was condensed to run the entire regatta on Saturday. Despite the condensed schedule, UD's Varsity Four recorded a third place finish in their heat with a time of 8:50.4.

Battling cold temperatures and a moderate cross-wind, The No. 10 nationally-ranked Lightweight 8 squad came in fourth during their race with a time of 7:53.1.

With the schedule change a lot of lightweights were racing in the Second Varsity 8 right before the lightweight 8, so fatigue was a factor.

In other action, the Flyers' Novice 8 finished their race with a time of 8:31.9. The Novice Four tallied a time of 10:30.0.

The Flyers return to Camden, N.J., on Saturday, April 21 for the 2007 Atlantic 10 Championship.