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North Park's Women's Crew Earns Gold Medal
PHILADELPHIA, PA (May 10, 2004) - The North Park University women's rowing
team earned a gold medal by placing first in the Women's Novice 4+ race
at the Dad Vail
Regatta on Saturday, defeating Purdue University by a boat length.
With a time of 7:38:5, the North Park team defeated five Division I
schools, including runner-up Purdue (7:42:2), and the University of
Vermont (7:42:7). Purdue won the overall women's team title in a
competition that contains several different rowing
races.
"When you come to a race like this, you don't know what to expect," said
Coach Tim Grant. "After the semifinal race, we were confident that we
had a shot to try to catch Purdue. Halfway through the final race, the
women were in second, but then they chewed
their way into first."
Often referred to as the "Big Daddy" of college rowing, the Dad Vail
Regatta is the largest collegiate regatta in the United States and the
championship of rowing for developing crews. The regatta's unique trait
is that the biggest and the smallest school can
compete equally on the water - more than 100 colleges and universities
from the United States and Canada participate in the event that draws
thousands of spectators to the Schuyskill River in Philadelphia's
Fairmount Park.
"I knew that we would need to have a strong crew just to compete at this
event, especially when other teams have 80 to 100 rowers and we have
18," Grant says. "It is really rare to get a gold medal. Nothing can top
this."
North Park's team includes North Park students Cori and Rebecca Bowman
of Cowiche, Washington; Annika Saftstrom of Carnation, Washington; Alli
Koubsky of Saint Cloud, Minnesota; and coxswain Erikka Treatch of
Fresno, California. Saturday's win follows a
significant victory for the team in the Mid-American Collegiate Rowing
Association (MACRA) Championships held the previous weekend. The crew
beat 11 other boats to win the gold medal in Athens, Ohio.
The women's rowing program continues in a developmental stage. Covenant
News Service has learned that two additional boats are needed to
properly equip the women's team to compete at the varsity level in
Division I. Currently, an effort is under way to raise the necessary
$45,000 for the purchase of the boats. Those interested in helping that
effort may call the president's office at North Park University at
773-244-5710. To learn more about the North Park rowing program, visit
the "Athletics" link at www.northpark.edu. More information about the
Dad Vail Regatta can be obtained by visiting www.dadvail.org.
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