Delaware Crew Shows Depth at Murphy Cup Regatta

This past weekend, the Delaware Fightin’ 150’s took the opportunity to race at the 33rd Memorial Murphy Cup Regatta, on the Cooper River in Pennsauken, New Jersey. The Lightweight team took a total of five boats to the regatta. Delaware’s Freshman Lightweight 4 competed in the Freshman/Novice Heavyweight 4 event. The 4 won their heat in the morning and secured a spot in the afternoon Final. They placed 4th in the Final behind Temple, UNC, and Virginia and ahead of Lehigh and Philadelphia University. The Freshman Lightweight 8 competed with a field of 22 boats in the Men’s Collegiate Novice 8. The Freshmen advanced to the final and placed 2nd, less than a second behind a strong Drexel crew. Both the 2nd and 3rd Varsity Lightweight 8’s competed in the Men’s Collegiate Lightweight 8 Event. The event was a straight final consisting of Michigan, Penn State, and Pittsburgh crews. The 2V won the event in dominant fashion, finishing over 18 seconds ahead of the 2nd place crew, Michigan. The 3V finished in 4th place, ahead of Penn State. The Varsity Lightweight 8 took a shot at some of the county’s top Dad Vail schools.

Despite losing to Temple in the heat, the Varsity 8 claimed the 2nd fastest time of all heats and advanced to the afternoon final. In the Final, the Delaware Lightweights were able to maintain composure throughout the race and sprint through Virginia, Temple, and Michigan crews in the last 500 meters of the race. The Fightin’ 150’s finished the race 1.6 seconds ahead of 2nd place Virginia, while Temple, Michigan, Holy Cross, and Delaware Heavyweights trailed behind. The Lightweight squad looks forward to this upcoming weekend, as they will race Dartmouth and Fordham on Saturday, and Harvard and Georgetown on Sunday.

The Heavyweights also raced at the Murphy Cup this weekend. The JV put up a good fight against a strong competition posting some comparable scores against other JV crews. The Varsity had a strong race in their heats finishing 2nd behind Virginia and advancing them to the grand final. In the grand, the heavies finished sixth with narrow margins behind Michigan and Holy Cross showing exciting promise for this spring. The Heaveis will take on Rutgers this weekend in a dual in New Brunswick NJ.

For the most up to date results and updates on UDMC training, follow us on twitter @delawarecrew

By: Corey Brown and Sean McBride