DES MOINES, Iowa – The Drake University rowing team went head-to-head with the Grand Valley State University women's club team during the Drake Invitational on Saturday morning (Nov. 1) on the Des Moines River.

The two teams competed in novice 8+, varsity 8+ and varsity 4+ races in four 1,500-meter cycles. After each cycle, the Bulldogs utilized lineup changes as they move towards setting their lineups for next Saturday's (Nov. 8) matchup against the Creighton Blue Jays.

“I'm really proud of how hard the team competed today against some stiff competition,” said head coach Charlie DiSilvestro. “Grand Valley State is one of the top club teams in the country, if not the best. Every year they are competing for the club national championship. We are a young team, but we raced hard and held our own in most of the races today. We purposely made lineup changes after each cycle and the girls responded well to those.”

“All of the training we have done this fall has gone well, but we still have some things to work on this week before Saturday against Creighton,” commented DiSilvestro on his team. “One of the goals going into today was to use those different lineups to prepare for Creighton and I'm happy how the switches went. It was a cold, but good morning to race and the format we used was exciting with not a lot of downtime for the rowers or the fans. We are excited for next weekend for our annual race with Creighton.”

The Bulldogs close out the fall campaign with their annual dual against the Creighton Blue Jays on Nov. 8 with the first race set to start at 9:30 a.m.