Crew fends off city rivals again | The Triangle

Crew fends off city rivals again

Old habits die hard, or so the saying goes. In the case of the Drexel men’s and women’s crew teams, their habits involve winning the Bergen and Kelly cups, as they did once again April 26.

The men’s varsity team claimed its fourth straight Bergen Cup in defeating city rivals Temple University, Saint Joseph’s University, Villanova University and La Salle University, while the women’s side won its fifth Kelly Cup in the last six years, beating the same city rivals.

The day kicked off with the women’s freshman eight finishing in third place. It was hotly contested, as the top three finishers were only separated by six seconds, with Villanova taking first place.

The women’s varsity four B boat finished in third, just three seconds behind first place. That race saw St. Joe’s netting first place with a time of 7:35.6, followed by Temple in second only two seconds later.

The varsity four followed up with a second-place finish behind Temple by three seconds as well, with a finishing time of 7:41.9.

When it finally came down to the Kelly Cup, however, the women’s varsity eight finished in first place, beating out St. Joe’s by almost 10 seconds.

On the men’s side, the freshman eight went up in a head-to-head competition against St. Joe’s in which they defeated the Hawks by 12 seconds.

The freshman four followed up with a second-place performance, finishing just two seconds behind Temple with a time of 6:47.4.

Drexel had two teams in the varsity four race, dubbed Drexel A and Drexel B. If the razor-thin margins of the previous races weren’t enough, Drexel B finished in second place behind Villanova by just 1.3 seconds. The A boat finished at just a sliver over the seven-minute mark, exactly 13 seconds behind the Drexel B boat.

The men’s crew had two boats in the second varsity eight race as well. This time it was Drexel A that snatched up the victory with a time of 6:02.9, two seconds in front of second-place winner Temple. Drexel B finished in third place with a time of 6:28.9.

Finally the men’s team claimed its fourth straight Bergen Cup, winning the trophy by an 11-second margin in front of Temple with a time of 5:54.9.

Head coach Paul Savell was proud of his team’s successes and said he saw the potential for success coming.

“The team has been building momentum through the spring,” Savell said. “The past weekend was our best performance of the season so far. With all of the local Philly schools racing for the Bergen Cup for the men and Kelly Cup for the women, it was great to retain both trophies for the third straight year. We all head into Dad Vails with a ton of confidence and focus. This team is more determined than ever to have a strong showing on our home course.”

Following the success of the Bergen and Kelly cups, the crew teams now prepare for the Aberdeen Dad Vail Regatta, which starts May 9.