Certain events are held annually for the best of the best in athletic fields to showcase their talents. There's the Super Bowl for football players, the World Series for baseball players, and for rowers there's the Head of the Charles.
The UB women's crew team went up against some of the nation's most prestigious schools over the weekend at the 41st annual Head of the Charles regatta in Boston, Mass., the world's largest two-day rowing extravaganza.
The Bulls rowed two boats in this year's regatta. The two squads each finished with respectable times on the course, which spans nearly three miles along the Charles River starting at Boston University and ending at the Artesani Playground in Brighton.
The Bulls entered a boat in the Youth Eight event. The UB boat placed seventh overall in a field of 57, a very impressive showing amongst top squads throughout the nation and Canada.
The UB boat crossed the finish line at 20:17.337. Yale University took the top honors in the Youth Eight event finishing at 19:14.404. Brown University with an overall time of 19:20.467 finished second and Princeton University at 19:27.717 topped off the top three.
"There were only three collegiate crews ahead of us: Yale, Brown and Princeton," head coach Rudy Wieler said of his Youth Eight boat. "Those are juggernauts in women's rowing. The other three crews were all-star club crews."
Their strong showing with high-caliber competition shows how the Bulls have developed throughout the season. The quality finish of the Youth Eight boat is a testament to the work ethic of UB women's crew.
"We trained very well this fall," Wieler said. "We've made a commitment to training hard and these results show that."
The Bulls' second boat, the Championship Eight, hoped to follow its fourth-place finish at last year's event with an equally respectable outing, but fell short against the elite competition. The UB Championship Eight boat finished 36th in the field of 47 this time around.
Even with dismal results in comparison to last year, Wieler was quick to point out the positive in these results.
"We did a great job," Wieler said. "We beat crews in our conference. These are the best crews in the nation and we were within the top 40. I'd say that's pretty good."
The UB Championship Eight boat finished with an overall time of 18:34.650. The U.S. Rowing Princeton Training Center, a prominent powerhouse in crew, powerfully rowed to first overall in the Championship Eight event with an impressive overall adjusted time of 16:34.633. Princeton also pounded the oars to place second place with a time of 16:50.059 and London Training Center took third overall in the event finishing at 16:56.389.
The Princeton Tigers convincingly showed they were the most competitive team in this event placing all three of their boats within the top five, as they not only placed the top two squads, but also the fifth.
The importance of strong finishes in crew is not only necessary to the achievement of immediate team goals, but is also pertinent to future success of the program. With each respectable finish, coach Wieler and the UB women's crew is building on its future as it hopes to draw in top prospects.
"These results are good for us and our recruiting," Wieler said. "We will not get better without recruits and we have to use these results to recruit more. We're still looking for girls who would like to walk on and would like to pick up a scholarship."
The next event for women's crew is Saturday Oct. 29. The Bulls will compete at the Head of the Fish in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. UB will then finish off the fall crew season at the Syracuse Invitational on Nov. 5 in Syracuse, N.Y. The Bulls hope to continue to use these events to scout top prospects and bring in recruits for the spring season in March.
Photo: Courtesy of Matthew Messina, from the RMBERS' Instagram page
