The 85th Jefferson Dad Vail went all Drexel right at the end, with the Dragons blasting out wins in both the Women's and Men's Eight. That capped the day and gave Drexel both the Men's and Overall Team trophies. Georgetown's women, racing with both their open- and lightweight squads this year, combined for four golds and the Women's points trophy.
Big regattas like the Jefferson Dad Vail tend to have a momentum, a building sense through the afternoon of which team is having the best day.
Georgetown's women clearly had that run going, with a steady stream of Hoyas on the medal's dock. Last year, only the Georgetown lightweights raced the Vails, since the openweights had their NCAA AQ racing at the Patriot League regatta the same weekend, but this year's schedule gave head coach Kendall Mulligan the opportunity to race a full squad at the Dad Vail.
"It's really exciting for us," Mulligan said on one of the team's many trips to the medals float.
"We know that Georgetown is really a Dad Vail school from the start, with that history and legacy. We talk a lot with the team about where we come from and it's not just about who's here today but everybody that came before us. We had an alum at Spring Break with us who told us a story about her Dad Vail's race, and that really resonated with them. So to be here and have the opportunity to race competitively and carry on that legacy is really special."
For the Men's Point Trophy and the Overall team title, though, it really came down to the last two Varsity Eight finals to see that the day would ultimately belong to Drexel. Georgetown would not be able to claim the overall trophy with just their women's points, and the men's lower boat golds had gone to a spread of crews from the big contenders for the V8 trophy this year: Drexel in the 3V and V4, LaSalle in the JV four, and Temple in the 2V.
That left it all up to the Varsity Eights, and Drexel's top women and men each delivered emphatic races that flipped the script on some of their early season results. The wins wrote another Drexel chapter in the history of the Dad Vail, the regatta that probably counts the most to the colleges from Boathouse Row, and certainly to the many Drexel alums who help run the regatta and have strong memories of past Vails victories.
"We've certainly been putting in the work this season," said Katie Lane, first-year head coach of the Drexel women, after watching her team rise to the occasion in the Grand Final.
"We've had some high points, and certainly some low points, but we've learned a lot," said Lane, looking over the season. "I think this race today was definitely a reflection of what we hope to continue on going into the conference championship and then into Henley later on.
"We knew that the back half of our season was going to be pretty loaded," she added. "Between Women's Sprints, coming into Dad Vail, and then going into conference championship, we did stack ourselves pretty heavy. Some may see that as a pretty intimidating schedule, but I think that we were up for the challenge. In my first year and in working with these athletes, I knew that they could handle a lot and they were up for it. It's been a lot of racing, but we certainly learned a lot and for right now, I don't think I would change a thing.
"We had a good showing in Worcester last weekend, and today certainly gives us a lot of confidence going into our conference championships. But for the V8 especially, knowing that we're doing an international tour and we only get to do that once every four years, I'm excited to continue the journey with this group."
The Drexel men have a new head coach as well, in Matt Weaver, with Paul Savell stepped into a Director of Rowing role this past summer and, like Lane, Weaver had his crews dialed in for the Vails win.
"In the varsity eight, we've used the whole season to figure out the race that worked best for us," Weaver said. "It's really just driving that base hard through the middle and separating ourselves there. It took a few weeks to get there during the regular season, but we're happy to have a race here that we feel good about."
When asked about how his team handled some early season growing pains, like a loss to LaSalle back in March, Weaver said that: "For us, it was about being focused on the day of and locked in every single day, then keeping a long term focus, towards the end of the season: Dad Vails and the IRA."
"The guys have been great," he added. "They feel like they've put in more work than ever before--and they say that--but I'm happy to see it pay off for them at the Dad Vail. We have a lot of depth. I think maybe everyone from the 1V to the varsity four has been in the 1V at some point, so it's a great group and there's a lot of guys who could row in the varsity eight. They push each other every day."
Drexel's win qualified them for one of the Dad Vail's two IRA bids--with LaSalle grabbing the other by just 0.08 seconds over third place Temple--so Weaver was already focused on the next task ahead for his team.
"There's just a back to work mindset," he said, "where we are going back to work Monday morning, prepping for IRAs. A team goal is getting into the top 12 there, which would be the first time in program history. For us, it's about keeping that in mind. Winning Dad Vails is a goal and then top 12 is also a goal at IRAs, so we're working towards that, and it's going to be huge for us."
For Paul Savell, in his new role as the director of the program, the across the board success for Drexel with the two team trophies seemed especially sweet.
"We had a lot of changes this year. But by the end, when we came down the Dad Vails, Katie and Matt did a great job," Savell said. "They really had everything lined up to be successful for the team."
Savell says that his job now is to make sure he keeps creating stability for the Drexel program.
"We want to have repeated success. That's really my goal: to keep this team in a great position."
With medals and trophies across 32 Grand Finals, there was a steady parade of programs and happy athletes on the medal dock. Below are a just a few stories of folks that earned themselves a Vails memory along with some hardware on the day.
Third Time Still A Charm
Oklahoma City's Ruthie Lacy came away with her third gold in the Women's single in a row, and the graduating senior called this win "completely different" from her wins in 2022 and 2023.
"This one is definitely more emotional since it's the last year," Lacy said, and gave credit to the field she faced in the final. "These girls are definitely fast, you know, so it was still just pushing off them, staying with my own race, and seeing how fast I could go."
Another difference this year was that Lacy was not done after picking up her gold medal: she turned around and hopped in the stroke seat of the OCU double with freshman Lucia Oney, and the duo collected a silver medal for Lacy to add to her collection as she wraps up her college career.
When asked about doubling up and managing the turnaround, Lacy admitted that is was "difficult," and that she was glad the double came after the single.
"I definitely could not do it without someone else," she said, nodding at Oney. "In the double, you feel that other person going and it's a whole new energy that you get.
FIT Women Still Gunning for Gold
FIT's women's four put up a repeat Vails win as well: last year, they rallied from losing varsity status and most of their team to win the race with the three women left on the roster and two novices who filled out the boat. Then they went on to win the ACRA Championship.
This year, the FIT streak continues, even as they are still working to get their team reinstated.
"It's been a really awesome year seeing the girls put in so much work," said stroke seat Brynn Romberger. "Every morning we show up to practice and put our all in, and even though every practice isn't our best, we always change up the mindset for our next row and really go after it."
row2k asked Romberger if the crew still feels like their efforts are keeping the flag flying for FIT Women's rowing.
"Absolutely," she said. "Especially after we got demoted to club program, we're still showing up and showing that we can compete with these big dogs and D1 programs, putting our name out there and showing up for a second year with a victory."
A Family Win for LaSalle
Each year, the winner of the Ken Shaw Trophy for the JV Four gets to meet Mr. Shaw himself: he hosts the medals ceremony, gives out all the medals, and takes a special moment with whoever wins his namesake trophy, especially if is a crew from his alma mater, LaSalle.
The LaSalle guys racing in that race today had a bit of extra motivation this year. Racing in a shell dedicated to the memory of Ken's wife Elizabeth 'Betty' Shaw, who recently passed away, LaSalle took the win, and brought the Betty Shaw shell to the medals dock where Ken was waiting.
Coxswain Dominac Mazza said afterwards that Betty and Ken's legacy was very much on the minds of the crew coming down the track.
"That was our driving factor," said Mazza. "We really want to win the Ken Shaw Trophy for her, being in her shell. Five strokes in, I said, 'We're a seat up, boys, let's keep moving." And they just kept walking away and never looked back."
"Our coach said that our team is going to rowing the JV Four race every year in that shell, to honor her and honor her legacy, and Ken himself."
One Last "Row, Tribe, Row" For Gold
The Women's Pair from William and Mary won gold in the final row for the two seniors in the boat, Kate Vogelzang and Claire Duckworth, and they talked about what it meant to win together one last time.
"It's been really special," said Vogelzang. "We first got on the water together. We took our first strokes in the same boat. It was our sophomore year because of COVID. We were both brand new to rowing and so to finish this way at Dad Vails, and make a comeback after we finished bronze in this event last year and get the gold our senior year is just more than either of us could ever ask for."
"We couldn't have asked for a better race," Duckworth added. "Conditions yesterday honestly kind of felt like home to me, on the Chickahominy. You could say it's temperamental at best there. So yesterday felt like it sent us into a really nice place for this race.
"We were talking before about just being so grateful that we have this opportunity, doing this together one last time," Duckworth said. "We've both been captains on this team, and so being able to do this together was really impactful for both of us."
"Around the 1000 mark, we really hit our stride and locked in," Vogelzang said. "We knew we were walking on a few other boats and I know I took a moment to really just try to soak it all in. By the 250 meter mark, we could hear all our teammates cheering for us, and it was just like magical. I started tearing up even though we hadn't won the race yet. It was really awesome.
"We know all our teammates back at home are cheering for us, too. We have an amazing team and it's just so great to see it grow since COVID. Our coach Rebecca Newman is just wonderful and so to do it for all of them was really huge."
"Hearing the 'Row, Tribe, Row' in the last 250, you get teary eyed because that's the last time we're going hear it," added Duckworth. "That was a really magical moment. Then rowing back and seeing all of our teammates on the shore cheering for us, that was that was really great."
A Final Win for An Army Coach
Long time Army Rowing coach Jennie Kiesling will retire from coaching and teaching at West Point this season, and her crew gave her the most fitting of send-offs, winning the Men's Freshman/Novice Eight.
"That was the last crew I'll ever coach after 29 years, and they've done me proud," Kiesling said, as her cadets rowed away with their gold medals. "They've got a great future as oarsmen and human beings and officers."
D2 & D3 Golds to Mercyhurst, Tampa, & RIT
The Vails is one regatta that runs D2 and D3 racing alongside the varsity and club events, and Mercyhurst took the win in the D2 women's eight over Rollins and Jefferson to make their case for an NCAA Championships bid when the D2 Rowing Committee announces its selections on May 21st.
In the D2/D3 Four final, Tampa took the gold over fellow D2 medallists Embry-Riddle and Mercyhurst, and the result was historic finish for the program according to team captain Kayli Antons, who came to the dock to celebrate the four and hand them their medals.
"They have been working so hard for the past two years," Antons said. "It's incredible that I've been able to see them grow and prosper, both on this river and on the Hillsborough back home. It's absolutely incredible that I've been able to see them make program history today."
In the D3 Women's eight, RIT won over St. Mary's (MD), coming in on a roll after just edging out William Smith for silver at the Liberty League Championships last weekend.
"We haven't gotten to see any of these schools this year," said RIT head coach Carol Schoenecker, who said that the chance to race a D3 field at the Vails provides an incredible opportunity.
"We really stay within our region, so this is the first time we've gotten to branch out and see some other competition. We decided to go to Dad Vail over the NIRC this weekend, to break it up. We've got some seniors who skipped graduation to come to this today, so this is a huge moment for them to be able to wrap up their rowing career this way."
Schoenecker brought the team here looking for race experience: "I think it's really incredible, especially thinking about our novice crew. This is the first time all year that they've been in a six boat race. It's just been duels, so they haven't had this kind of excitement, this level of approach, and the multiple races throughout the weekend. That's something you don't get a lot, so for developing a young crew, most of whom started early in college, it's about getting as many experiences as possible to continue that development momentum into next year."
Double Club 8 Wins for URI
URI coach Tim Nesselrodt might have had an inkling that the two eights he brought to Vails might do well today after winning the time trials Friday, but he still called it surreal to see both crews win in the end.
With the races back to back, the women even got to cheer for the final strokes of the men's win while standing on the medals dock with their golds--a scene that would be repeated at the end of the day as the Drexel women cheered their men to victory.
The two URI crews even got to meet on the water as the women rowed back and the men turned to get their hardware; the two boats clearly enjoyed celebrating their twin wins together.
Nesselrodt said it was great "to see the athletes have the chance to showcase all their work."
"The men have been working for three years now to get the chance to be in this position, so to get to watch them come across and get those medals was really cool. We haven't had that opportunity in the big boat in more than 40 years, so to get back out there and win the eight, it's a lot of fun.
"I came in the height of COVID and we had to survive that year," said Nesselrodt, "but the following year, we had a men's four win ACRA, and that was really our launching point. But even last year, and we joke about it, the guys always liked to say 'nine guys and a dream' because that's pretty much all we had on the varsity squad.
"Then they showed up and got 11th at ACRA. We weren't even going to run an eight last year. We were going to do the four one more time, but they had that something in the eight when we were at Spring Break, so we decided to go for it. They really built off that.
"The women had the same thing happen, just one year later. This is their first go in the big boat, but last year, they won the novice four here at Vails and at ACRA. The women's varsity four got fourth at ACRA, so we took those two groups and pushed them together, and they're grooving now."
URI will head to Oak Ridge at the end of the week to race for club national championships at ACRA. The women were ranked fourth before the win this weekend, while the men are not ranked, but have a big win under their belts as they head into that final race of the season.
Notes from the Course
AARC Champs - The St. Joe's Men won the second-ever Atlantic Association of Rowing Colleges (AARC) title as part of their racing at Vails. Taking fourth in the Grand Final, the Hawks were the top school from the nascent league. A year ago, the AARC ran its own Atlantic Sprints championships, and this year, the schools tested out running the event in conjunction with the Dad Vails which so many of them already attend and wanted to keep on the schedule.
No Swimming, Mostly - the Cooper venue has a brand new medals dock, so the celebrations this weekend felt like Cooper races of old for sure. One thing that has not changed: the depth of the water next to the awards float, which we found is still pretty shallow. That meant the regatta folks were keeping the medal winners and coxswains out of the water, mostly. The Delaware alums threw their coxswain in before the official medal ceremonies began, and then the Drexel men got the "sorta ok" since they were the last race--and all of them wound up what is essentially just waist deep water.
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