The 26th annual Knecht Cup, held on the Cooper River in Cherry Hill, N.J., took place from April 12-13. In the event featuring 58 schools, the University of Wisconsin women’s rowing team competed against many of the country’s top performers on the 2000-meter course.
Lightweight races consist of either an eight-member team, a four-member team or a two-member “double sculls” team, racing on a 2000-meter course. In this week’s CRCA/Pocock Coaches Poll, the Badgers ranked sixth, fourth and second nationally in these categories. The boats with eight and four rowers consist of an additional member, the coxswain, directing their group.
Wisconsin opened their season April 6 against Georgetown. Wisconsin won the Varsity Double and Varsity Four 2000-meter races, while Georgetown claimed the Varsity Eight 2000-meter race.
The team’s first involvement on the Cooper River came Saturday morning in the Women’s Double Scull races. The Badgers had three different pairs in this race, spread across various preliminary heats.
Sophomores Abbey DiChiara and Romy McCarthy finished in 9:09.94 to qualify for Sunday’s grand final, while freshman Miya Lee and sophomore Meghan Fairley’s time of 9:47.85 earned them a spot in the petite final. Junior Daisy Hester and sophomore Frankie Park raced to a 9:51.70 finish.
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As the heats continued, the Women’s Varsity Four team stepped up to finish second in their preliminary heat. Freshman Audra Chesny, juniors Charlotte Mirzaian, Adeline Hinkie and Emilie Rochon and senior Gracie Walker raced an 8:59.09 pace, qualifying for the afternoon’s semifinals.
Later in the morning, the Women’s Second Varsity Four team won their preliminary heat to advance to the final race on Sunday. Fairley, sophomore Jame Wild, Hester, Park and junior Maggie Wagner put together a 9:07.09 effort, showcasing Wisconsin’s squad depth among their four-member boats.
Pivoting away from the varsity action, the Badgers performed exceptionally in the Women’s Frosh/Novice Four race. Freshman Hannah Fineberg, Lee and Estelle Stout and sophomores Sophie Vande Slunt and Charlotte Wise claimed the best time across all four preliminary heats, racing to a 9:11.21 finish. They would regroup on Sunday morning to race in their respective final.
The final preliminary race to feature Badgers on Saturday was the Women’s Second Varsity Eight. Mirzaian, Olivia Palmberg, Claire Rulyak, Ella Springer, Payton Bradford, Anika Hanson, Payton Tonnos, Hinkie and Sarah Rab won the second heat with a 7:25.88 time. A few hours later, the squad placed third in their semifinal heat with a time of 7:39.74. Nonetheless, the third-place finish secured them a spot in Sunday morning’s grand final.
Picking up from the morning’s preliminary heat time of 8:59.09, the Varsity Four team placed third in their Saturday afternoon semifinal, racing at an improved 8:34.89. As a semifinalist, the boat directed by Rochon earned a place in Sunday morning’s petite final race.
Sunday’s finals started with the Women’s Doubles petite final and grand final. Wisconsin’s Lee and Fairley finished sixth in the petite final with a time of 8:41.41. In the grand final, DiChiara and McCarthy finished fifth overall, racing to an 8:15.60 finish.
The Women’s Lightweight Four race opened their weekend next. With five teams entered, this event did not require any preliminary races. Mirzaian, Hanson, Bradford, Hinkie and Rochon teamed up to claim a first-place victory, timed at 7:55.45.
After claiming the best time across 17 preliminary entries, the Frosh/Novice Four group placed second in the grand final race with a time of 8:14.54. Just 5.18 seconds behind Radcliffe, this silver medal finish is something for the Badgers to celebrate.
Led by Wagner as coxswain, the Second Varsity Four competed in their event’s grand final, placing third with a time of 8:04.28.
The Varsity Four group raced to an 8:11.95 finish, good for second place in the first of two petite finals. Rochon, who directed the morning’s Lightweight Four race, returned as the coxswain for this team as well. Among the 18 teams composing the grand final and two petite finals, Wisconsin’s time stands as eighth best overall.
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Sunday morning’s finals continued as the Women’s Lightweight Eight squad fought for the Danielle Kousoulis Memorial Trophy. The team of Alex Palmberg, Evelyn Payne, Rulyak, Springer, Rianne Wagner, Palmberg, Tonnos, Georgia Harlow and Rab finished fifth with a time of 7:04.76.
In the race for Women’s Third Varsity Eight teams, Wisconsin proceeded to win their final with a 7:19.55 finish. Gracie Walker, DiChiara, Margot Quist, McCarthy, Libby Walker, Eleanor Vogel, Mckenna Beltz, Wild and Wagner came together from their primary events to win this race.
Closing out the weekend, the Women’s Second Varsity Eight placed fifth in their grand final with an improved time of 7:10.74.
Coach “Hodge” Habibovic did not enter an Varsity Eight team into the top division for the division, so their first and second teams competed in the “Second Varsity Eight” and “Third Varsity Eight” pools.
Wisconsin has competed at the Knecht Cup since the lightweight team’s inception in 1995-96. In 26 of their 30 seasons, the Knecht Cup has been a spring tradition for the Badgers.
They have won 12 Varsity Lightweight Eight trophies at the cup, with the last coming in 2012-13. Although the UW record book does not include Lightweight Four trophy records at the Knecht Cup, Wisconsin’s victory in this race is something to build on.
The Badgers will continue their season Saturday April 19, traveling to Stanford.
All race times and results are sourced from rowtown.org. The weekend’s schedule and lineup entries are accessible via Regatta Central.