April 21, 2006

This past weekend, we were fortunate enough to be able to host a race right here in central Pennsylvania. George Mason, Delaware and Temple all traveled with their trailers full of boats and buses full of rowers to Shamokin Dam to race. After a slight delay, the racing started Saturday morning with the varsity eight heats, followed by the second varsity eight race, the fours race, the finals for the varsity eight, and finally the novice eight race. Being bow seat in the novice eight, I watched the other Bucknell boats finish either first or second in each of their respective races, until I finally got the chance to row myself.

We carried our boat down to the dock, shoved off, and began rowing our warm-up, all matching in our navy visors and spandex. As we were warming up, the wind picked up considerably, making it difficult to get alignment at the start. However, soon all five boats were sitting at attention and the race began. Temple, which was in the lane next to us, had a strong start and was ahead from the beginning. Our boat was behind off the line, but during the middle 1,000 meters, we were able to gain on all of the boats and pull even with George Mason, which was in second place. It was a tight race, with each stroke making a difference and we were able to get a slight lead with about 500 meters to go. Unfortunately, in the last 250 meters, George Mason executed a strong sprint and pulled a few seats ahead of us, crossing the finish line three seconds before us.

Despite finishing third, it was a great race and we all felt that we gave it everything we had. I believe it was a good learning experience, and we have been able to recognize our weaknesses and work to get faster each day at practice. With about 10 days until the Patriot League Championships, this is the best time to put on the finishing touches and really come together as a boat in the final few weeks of our racing season, making sure we enjoy the time we have left together as the novice eight.

- Renee Perry '09