Women's Rowing Second Varsity 8+ Defeats Navy
4/12/2013 12:00:00 AM | Women's Rowing
WASHINGTON, D.C. - It was a productive day on the water at the George Washington Invitational for the Gonzaga University women's rowing team. The Bulldogs Second Varsity 8+ defeated Navy - who was undefeated coming into the race - while the Varsity 8+ and Varsity 4+ each gave the Navy boats in their race a battle.
"All the boats had solid races today against Navy," explained Gonzaga head coach Glenn Putyrae after the first day of the invitational. "We had a lot of success out here today and that is very encouraging."
The Bulldog Second Varsity 8+ earned a nine-second victory over Navy, closing out the 2,000-meter Potomac River race course in a time of 6:35.80. Navy crossed the finish line in 6:44.09.
"It was exciting to see the Second Varsity 8+'s win," said Putyrae. "They have been working really hard on racing well from the start of the race on. Today they were very aggressive from the start and did everything they needed to do to win the race. The outcome was encouraging for them long term and it was good for them to experience it."
The Zag Varsity 8+ fell down to Navy by a length 500-meters into the course but was able to close out the next 1,500-meters. In the end GU fell to the Mids by a mere two seconds. Navy had a time of 6:28.20, while Gonzaga was at 6:30.54.
"It was a bit disappointing that the Varsity 8+ wasn't more aggressive off the starting line," explained Putyrae. "If they had had a more aggressive start, the ultimate result may not have been different, but we would have given an extremely tough race."
Navy claimed a 16-second victory over the Gonzaga Varsity 4+ with a time of 7:31.50. The Bulldogs had a finish of 7:47.68.
It was the Zags catching a crab just 500-meters into the race that hindered them from a successful finish.
"Catching that crab basically made them stop for about 20 seconds," stated Putyrae. "They picked it up and put together the best race they could, but it is hard to recover from that. Luckily the athletes are taking it in stride and understand that despite that they had a very good race."
All three Navy boats came into the weekend undefeated; with the Varsity 8+ and Second Varsity 8+ having won both the Murphy Cup and the Occoquan Sprints. The Varsity 4+ had also claimed first at the Murphy Cup.
Gonzaga continues the George Washington Invitational Saturday when it meets host George Washington in the morning and then Saint Joseph's in the afternoon.
Fans can watch the event via live streaming online. Click here to watch.
George Washington Invitational Day 1 Results
Potomac River - Washington, D.C. - Friday, April 12, 2013
Varsity 8+
1. Navy 6:28.20. 2. Gonzaga 6:30.54
Second Varsity 8+
1. Gonzaga 6:35.80. 2. Navy 6:44.09
Varsity 4+
1. Navy 7:31.50. 2. Gonzaga 7:47.68
George Washington Invitational Day 2 Schedule
Saturday, April 13
5:40 a.m. PT - Women's Varsity 4+ (Gonzaga vs. George Washington)
5:50 a.m. PT - Women's Second Varsity 8+ (George Washington vs. Gonzaga & George Washington Third Varsity 8+)
6 a.m. PT - Women's Varsity 8+ (Gonzaga vs. George Washington)
10:30 a.m. PT - Women's Varsity 4+ (St. Joseph's vs. Gonzaga)
10:40 a.m. PT - Women's Second Varsity 8+ (Gonzaga vs. St. Joseph's)
10:50 a.m. PT - Women's Varsity 8+ (St. Joseph's vs. Gonzaga)
