4th Annual BOBCAT CUP

The 4^th Annual BOBCAT CUP was held last night on the Androscoggin River in near perfect conditions. The bald eagles (America!) were on hand for the racing as were a few ducks & geese. The course was from the bridge in Turner to the dock at the boathouse, roughly 5.5K. There was almost no wind to speak of and the current was minimal although the water level was low.

The Cup is awarded to the crew with the fastest adjusted time. The formula we have concocted has been painstakingly researched and is based on the finishing times of all medal winning crews at the NERC and ECAC regattas over the past decade.

The victorious crew and new holder of The Bobcat Cup is the Women’s Varsity Eight comprised of bow: Haley Sive, 2: Amy Jacks, 3: Mallory Ward, 4: Hope King, 5: Alexandra Hill, 6: Heather Monty, 7: Elizabeth Sonshine, stroke: Allison DiSalvo and cox: Gabriella Bilotta. They won the coveted cup with a blistering adjusted time of 17:43.7.

Sophomore coxswain, Gabby Bilotta had this to say following the race: "We've had some really solid pieces recently and it felt good to end the season with a fast race piece on our home course."

The 2^nd Women’s Varsity Eight had an impressive run of their own to challenge the V8 for the Cup and finished a very close second. Following their record setting performance at the Charles the 2V was motivated to show their true colors once again but came up just short by finishing with an adjusted time of just over three seconds behind the V8.

The Men’s Varsity Eight really went at this piece with everything they had. Sophomore coxswain, Jake Sandor, pushed his men to the limit running the 5.5K course at an elevated rate knowing he would be giving the women’s crews a significant amount of time. They finished the course in 18:23.6 beating the old course record of 18:40.3 which was set on this day in 2010.

The Men’s Varsity Four w/ Cox also had a great run down the bridge course. They finished with a hard time that would have put them as third fastest all time for a MV4+. Unfortunately, their time will not be disclosed here as the calculations for the adjustments are Top Secret.

Lastly, although I am sure The Women’s Novice Eight is not pleased with their place standings they should know that the coaches are quite happy with their progress. This group continues to improve and I, for one, am really looking forward to their race this weekend at The Chase. Two weeks ago they were a mere 9.3 seconds off the pace of the varsity eight from Colby and since that time have gained a lot of speed.

4^th BOBCAT CUP - Results (all times are adjusted):

Women’s Varsity Eight 17:43.7

Women’s Second Varsity Eight 17:47.3

Men’s Varsity Eight 18:23.6

Men’s Varsity Four w/cox 18:44.1

Women’s Novice Eight 19:06.3

Coming up next....

The Crew travel to sunny Sydney, Maine for our final race of the fall. The Chase with Colby College will begin a little after 10:00am and will be done by noon.