(May 13, 2006) - All three of Fordham??s women??s eights and both men??s varsity fours advanced to the semifinals at the Dad Vail Regatta on May 12-13, 2006. The varsity eight placed 4th in their semifinal, thus qualifying for the second final, ultimately placing 12th overall among the 39 Division I varsity entries. The second varsity also took 4th in their semifinal, effectively tying for 7th place (of 22) in their event, in which there was no second final. The novice crew tied for 16th overall in a field of 32 crews. The women??s showing was particularly strong when compared to their performance against some of the same crews the week before in the ECAC Metro Championship Regatta at Worcester, where the Rams did not make a single grand final. The men??s varsity lightweight four took home the bronze medals at Dad Vail for third place in an exciting final race, while the heavyweight four qualified for the semifinals in the event for the first time since 1997, tying for 16th place in a field of 53 entries. Only the men??s and women??s novice fours did not advance, despite valiant efforts in Friday??s heats. Varsity Eight Qualifies for Second Final In this year??s new format for the varsity eights, two crews qualified directly into the semifinals from each of the seven heats on Friday morning, with the last-place crew eliminated, and all others sent into one of the afternoon repechages, where only the winner would survive into Saturday. Fordham was in the first heat, which followed form, with the two seeded crews, No. 1 UMass and UC-Santa Barbara finishing first and second. Fordham and Delaware dueled for third place, with the Rams falling behind as they passed Peter??s Island in lane 6, finishing 2.5 seconds behind Delaware. (Fordham had finished 6.4 seconds and two places behind Delaware the previous week, finishing 5th in the petit final at the ECAC.) This relative placement was of little consequence, as it simply determined a choice between lanes 3 and 4 for the repechage as the two now-familiar rivals would face off again. In the repechage, Fordham aggressively took advantage of a tailwind to row at a higher stroke rate through the body of the race. They took a slight lead on Delaware and held it through the course. Coming into the last 500 meters, UC-Long Beach began to move in on the leaders. At the finish, Fordham had to hold off Long Beach??s charge to prevail by .5 seconds, with Delaware fading slightly to finish nearly 5 seconds behind the Rams. UC-Irvine was a length behind Delaware, with West Virginia out of the running. In Saturday??s semifinal, from which the first two finishers would make the grand final and places 3 and 4 the second final, Fordham drew lane 1. Coming through the bridge, the crews in the outside lanes began to separate themselves from the field, with Villanova taking the lead, followed by Rhode Island and Connecticut. Fordham, Purdue and Drake made up the second group. Villanova held its lead (6:35.33), with Rhode Island (6:37.37) holding off a charge from UConn to make the grand final by a .24 second margin. Open water separated the leaders from the following group, in which Fordham (6:49.55) rebuffed a challenge from Drake (6:53.35) and Purdue (6:55.32) to hold onto 4th position and a berth in the second final. The final races were delayed approximately two hours due to a passing thundershower and lightning in the area. The second finals were finally run as the concluding events of the day under skies that were darkening once again. Fordham lost contact with the pack mid-way through the race, and finished 6th behind Bucknell, Santa Barbara, Connecticut, Santa Clara and Colgate. St. Joseph??s scored a big upset win in the grand final. The Hawks, won the petit final at ECAC a week earlier, after finishing behind UMass and Buffalo (by nearly 6 seconds) and BC in the heats at Worcester, won their morning semifinal, but with only the 5th fastest time, nearly 8 seconds slower that UMass in the first heat. As they entered the last 400 meters, the Hawks held nearly a length lead on UMass, with San Diego in between them. The race tightened up as the top five crews raced to the finish, as St. Joseph??s (6:40.02) held off the Minutemen (6:41.58). Buffalo (6:42.14) stayed right with UMass in the closing sprint and was also able to narrowly eclipse San Diego (6:42.24) for the bronze medals. Villanova (6:42.98) also nearly caught the California crew. In one of the closest finishes in memory, the first five crews finished within 3 seconds. Rhode Island trailed the pack in lane 6 (6:51.38). Second Varsity One Position Short of Dad Vail Final The second varsity eight had the most competitive results of all the Fordham women??s crews in Philadelphia. In the heat late on Friday afternoon, Fordham was matched with Vermont (winner of the New England Championships), Drexel, Rochester and Delaware. Delaware had finished second in the petit finals at the ECAC, 3.6 seconds ahead of 3rd place Fordham. Vermont jumped to an early lead and coasted in far ahead in 7:11.87. Entering the final sprint, it was clear that Delaware and Fordham would both advance, but the order of finish was in doubt until the finish line, with the Rams coming out ahead by .17 seconds. In the semifinal, Bucknell and UMass emerged from the pack as they approached the 1000 meter mark, with LaSalle fading on the outside. Fordham??s midrace sprint kept it in 4th position behind Connecticut. Grand Valley attempted to close the gap with the lead group as it approached the last 500, but could not sustain the move and remained in 5th place. Bucknell took control of the race to win comfortably in 6:46.25, with UMass (6:52.4) about two lengths off the pace. UConn (6:54.55) held off a valiant fight from Fordham for the last spot in the final, with Fordham finishing in 6:58.67, nearly 13 seconds ahead of Grand Valley. (Connecticut had been more than 20 seconds faster than Fordham in the heats). Buffalo won the grand final, with Bucknell and UMass taking the silver and bronze, respectively. Vermont finished just .61 out of the medals, with UConn another two seconds back and Colgate a couple of lengths astern. Novice Eight Makes the Semifinals Entering the heat, the Fordham novices knew that to advance, they would have to better their performance of the week before, a 3rd in the petit final at ECAC, and defeat Delaware, who finished 6.5 seconds ahead of the Rams in that race, after beating them by over 13 seconds that same morning in the heat. With three boats to qualify and strong entries from UMass and Bucknell, beating the Blue Hens was the priority, and that is exactly what Fordham did. With UMass cruising in at 7:21.12, Fordham (7:37.75) not only knocked off Delaware (7:39.15), but also pressed Bucknell (7:34.34). Maryland trailed in 7:42.25. In the semis, Fordham could not sustain the momentum, as they fell behind early and finished 6th behind Grand Valley, St. Joseph??s, George Mason, Temple and Fairfield. Fordham did challenge Fairfield entering the last 500 but could finish no closer than 9.6 seconds. This was an improvement, however, from the New York Metropolitan Championships, where Fairfield defeated the Rams by more than 15 seconds. Fordham Men??s Lightweight Four Takes Third in Final; Heavies Make Semi For the third straight year (and the 7th time in 9 years), Fordham medaled in the men??s varsity lightweight four at Dad Vail. With a strong mid-course move, Fordham established a lead in the first of the day??s five heats, although Penn State and Georgia Tech stayed close behind to join Fordham in the semifinals. Both crews had defeated Fordham at the Knecht Cup (PSU by just ? second), but Fordham had decisively beaten Penn State just a week ago in the MidAtlantic Collegiate Crew Championships on the Occoquan Reservoir in Virginia. Fordham??s heat time of 6:57.46 was second only to that posted by RIT, 6:55.8, winning the last heat of the day. On Saturday morning, Fordham opened the semifinals with a sluggish performance, falling behind Pittsburgh, and not being able to quite catch up. The Rams sprint fell less than .4 short. Qualifying for the final was never in doubt, as third-place San Diego finished 11 seconds back. Once again, RIT posted the fastest time in the round, followed by Marietta, Cal-Berkeley and Pitt, with Fordham the slowest finalist coming out of the semis. The final was a tightly contested race, at least for everyone but RIT. The crew from Upstate New York established an early lead and dominated the race, winning in 6:31.2. Marietta (6:38.18) held 2nd place all the way down the course. Fordham (6:39.11) outraced Knecht Cup winner Boston College (6:40.76) for third as both crews closed in on Marietta at the finish. Cal-Berkley could not sustain the challenge it mounted with about 500 to go and finished 5th in 6:46.59. Pitt was never a factor in the race, but still was not far behind at 6:48.37. Senior captain Rob Cilento and juniors Anthony Leonardi and Max Caldwell earned their second Dad Vail medals (2nd place last year), and freshman Ryan Kirlin and coxswain Matthew Toomey picked up their first. The heavyweight four rowed in the first race of the regatta, at 7:00 a.m. on Friday, and turned in a solid effort, finishing 8 seconds behind Dayton to qualify for the semifinals. The Rams had another two-length margin on Marquette, which was followed by Catholic U., Penn State and Purdue. Fordham??s 7:04.8 was the slowest of the 18 qualifying times, so it was no surprise that they were unable to advance beyond the semifinals. Fordham was in the semifinal with Georgia Tech and UC-Long Beach, which ended up finishing 1-2 in the grand final. Dayton was third in the grand. Fordham??s real race in the semi was a fight for 5th place with St. Thomas, with the Rams falling short by less than two seconds. Overall, the Dad Vail was a strong competitive effort for the Fordham crews. With just one senior graduating from the men??s program and only five women, the 2007 team will be well-stocked with experienced rowers, as well as an eagerly-awaited recruiting class, and poised for an even stronger showing.