Sports Shorts: Crew and outdoor track

By Frank Visco
Collegian Editor
March 29, 2006

Crew
In the their first competitions of 2006, both the men’s and women’s crew teams performed solidly at the Murphy Cup, as each team sent four of six boats to the finals. The event took place on the Schuylkill River on Saturday, March 25.

The men’s team registered three boats in the finals, including the Men’s Frosh/Novice Four, the Men’s 2nd Varsity Eight, and the Men’s Varsity Eight advanced.

The Men’s Frosh/Novice Four finished its first race in 7:42.31, which was good enough to notch a second-place finish. In the finals, the men lost 10 seconds (7:52.31) and wound up with a fifth-place finish.

Following suit, the Men’s 2nd Varsity Eight also took second-place in its first race (6:48.35) and fifth in the finals ( 6:53.70). Meanwhile, the Men’s Varsity Eight garnered a third place finish in its first race (6:21.38), but still managed to claim a bid to the finals, in which it finished in a time of in sixth place (6:39.53).

As for the women, they sent the their Frosh/Novice Four to the finals. The group placed third in its heat (8:36.17) in its opening event to move onto the finals, but faltered in the final event, taking sixth place with a time of 8:51.04.

The two boats that did not advance to the finals were the Women’s DI Varsity Eight and the Women’s 2nd Varsity Eight. The former team did not advance despite finishing second in its heat with a time of 7:08.51, while the latter placed fifth in its heat (7:34.81).

The team will make its next foray into competition on Saturday, April 1 against a TBA opponent.

Outdoor Track
The track and field teams kicked off the outdoor season at the Raleigh Relays this past weekend. Several Explorers performed well in the event, which was hosted by North Carolina State.

For the men, junior Joe Brancaleone took second place in the 3,000-meter steeplechase (9:37.48), while sophomore Kevin Moore placed fifth in the javelin throw. Moore’s distance of 62.83 meters easily surpassed the IC4A qualifying mark of 58 meters.

In addition, freshman Steve Randall also had a solid showing. He finished 13th in the 110-meter hurdles finals with a time of 14.86, after qualifying on Friday with a time of 14.90. Lastly, seniors James Jefferson and Ryan Moseley qualified for the 100-meter dash finals. Jefferson took 10th place with a time of 11.03, while Moseley took 16th with a time of 11.25.

On the other side of things, the women also turned in several impressive performances. Junior Danielle Schopf grabbed eighth-place in the 1,500-meter run (4:44.69), while junior Kate Dobransky garnered a seventh-place finish in the 3000-meter steeplechase with a time of 1:42.03.
Both the men’s and women’s 4x1500 meter relay teams also placed well, with the men placing fourth (15:53.29) and the women registering a third place bow (18:52.82).
The Explorers will look to continue the outdoor season on Friday, March 31, at the Stanford Invitational. The team will then see action at the Maryland Invitational on Saturday, April 1.

viscof1@lasalle.edu