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Lafayette College’s women’s novice and varsity four-oared crew teams took first and second place, respectively, at the 68th Dad Vail Regatta along the Schuylkill River May 13.
With more than 3,000 students from 116 colleges and universities from across the nation participating, Dad Vail is the largest collegiate regatta in the United States.
“This is the championship for us. It finishes off the season,” says assistant coach and advisor Larry Malinconico, associate professor of geology and environmental geosciences. “Our novice four can rightly claim to be the national champions in their event.”
This is the first time ever that the women’s novice team has won a gold medal or any women’s teams have won two medals overall at the Dad Vail.
Consisting of English major Natalie Cothren ’09 (Akron, Ohio); international affairs major Katie Milot ’09 (Basking Ridge, N.J.); English major Alison Nemeth ’09 (Westhampton, N.Y.); Valerie Faure ’09 (Sands Point, N.Y.); and biology major Jackie Molzon ’08 (Saratoga, Calif.) as coxswain, the novice team finished first in three 2,000-meter heats to take the gold. In the final, the team outpaced the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga by almost five seconds.
“This really shows the team that they can compete at this level,” says co-head coach Trish Brubaker. “They may get the feeling that they are at a disadvantage because this is a club sport at Lafayette but they won against teams with strong varsity programs.”
The silver-medal varsity team was comprised of Janine Tkach ’06 (Short Hills, N.J.), a double major in history and English; Laurel Waterhouse ’06 (Northfield, Conn.), an international affairs major; Laura Danberg ’06 (Hockessin, Del.), a biology major; Allison Quigley ’08 (North Andover, Mass.), a government and law major; and coxswain Ben Goldstein ’07 (Maple Glen, Pa.), a biology major.
This is the continuation of an excellent season for the varsity squad as they also finished second in their division in the Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston, Mass., Oct. 22-23. The five-kilometer Head of the Charles is the largest two-day regatta in the world, drawing more than 7,000 competitors from top national and international rowing clubs and institutions.
“With varsity, three of the four were seniors so this is an outstanding way to cap their careers,” says Malinconico.
The spring portion of the crew’s season is tremendously packed. Brubaker and co-head coach Sandy Culver get the team members in shape with training over spring break at Stetson University in Deland, Fla. That is followed with a competition every weekend right up to the Dad Vail.
The season will pick up again in the fall with practices starting the first week of school and the first major event being the Head of the Charles. The fall season wraps up with the Philadelphia Frostbite Regatta in November.
Although a number of seniors will be lost this season, Brubaker is very enthusiastic about next year because of the talent of the novice team and the large amount of interest the Dad Vail medals have already generated from high school rowers.
“The freshman team really came together well at the end of the season and we will have them back for the next three seasons,” say Malinconico.