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Drake University Athletics

Rowing Travels To Dad Vail Regatta

Rowing Drake Athletics

Rowing Travels To Dad Vail Regatta

PHILADELPHIA - The Drake University rowing team travels to the 2014 Aberdeen Dad Vail Regatta as the Bulldogs will compete on the Schuylkill River this Friday (May 9) and Saturday (May 10).

Senior Brittany Michael (Pleasant Hill, Iowa) along with sophomores Kelsey Leahy (Madison, Wis.), Alex Lueck (West Allis, Wis.), Katie Serbin (Hannibal, Mo.) and coxswain Bri Varela (Olathe, Kan.), will race in the Division I women's open weight 4 race on Friday.  

“I'm very pleased how this boat lineup has come together,” said head coach Charlie DiSilvestro. “We haven't had the water time we would like, but this group has come together well in a short time. They raced together for the first time on Saturday and every day they have gotten faster and stronger.”

The boat has been placed in the fifth heat Friday at 8:36 a.m. and it will compete against Delaware, Jacksonville, Lafayette, Lehigh and Massachusetts. If the Bulldogs finish in the top three of their heat they move on to the semifinals, which will take place Saturday morning. The finals are slated for Saturday afternoon and will be shown on ESPN3.

“They have the right attitude and level of confidence that you want,” DiSilvestro said on his Dad Vail lineup. “The experience level is where we want it as well. Katie and Brittany competed at Dad Vail last year and Bri, Kelsey and Alex are new. Combining them gives us the right collective mindset going into this weekend. Now we need to execute in heat of the race.”

The Aberdeen Dad Vail is the largest college regatta in North America and it first started in 1934. The race course is 2,000 meters, which is an Olympic length course, and features six race lanes. The Dad Vail features over 175 different races. In its 76th year, the Dad Vail had a record 128 college and universities compete in 2013. This is the 20th consecutive year Drake has participated in the Dad Vail.

This will be the final race of the 2014 spring season for the Drake team. Two years ago Drake captured it's first-ever Dad Vail trophy.

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Players Mentioned

Kelsey Leahy

Kelsey Leahy

Rower
5' 6"
Sophomore
Alex Lueck

Alex Lueck

Rower
5' 9"
Sophomore
Brittany Michael

Brittany Michael

Rower
5' 6"
Senior
Katie Serbin

Katie Serbin

Rower
5' 11"
Sophomore
Bri Varela

Bri Varela

Coxswain
5' 1"
Sophomore

Players Mentioned

Kelsey Leahy

Kelsey Leahy

5' 6"
Sophomore
Rower
Alex Lueck

Alex Lueck

5' 9"
Sophomore
Rower
Brittany Michael

Brittany Michael

5' 6"
Senior
Rower
Katie Serbin

Katie Serbin

5' 11"
Sophomore
Rower
Bri Varela

Bri Varela

5' 1"
Sophomore
Coxswain