PHILADELPHIA - Sophomore Jacque Nowers (Ames, Iowa) (coxswain), sophomore Maggie Benhart (St. Charles, Ill.), senior Brittany Michael (Pleasant Hill, Iowa), freshman Katie Serbin (Hannibal, Mo.) and junior Jessica Nightser (Council Bluffs, Iowa) finished in sixth place today in the final of the Division I women's open weight 4+ race on the Schuylkill River at the 2013 Aberdeen Dad Vail Regatta.

The Bulldogs advanced out of their semifinal heat this morning with a second place finish behind No. 1 seed Bucknell, while beating Lehigh, William and Mary, Fairfield and the University of Florida to earn a spot in a stacked, competitive final.

Drake raced against Bucknell, Drexel, Northwestern, Western Ontario University and Colgate in the afternoon race. Western Ontario finished first, while Bucknell took second place.

“It's not where we wanted to finish obviously, but I'm proud of the effort the girls had this afternoon,” Drake head coach Charlie DiSilvestro said. “They rowed hard this morning to advance to the final and like I told the girls there are 29 other boats that wanted our spot in the final, but it wasn't our day. They did an outstanding job of representing Drake University today.”

This was the final race of the 2013 season for the Drake rowing team.