Dukes compete at the top of the Ohio

PITTSBURGH – The Duquesne rowing team returned to the top of the racing competition last Saturday for the first time in 23 months with multiple appearances at the Head of the Ohio on the Allegheny River.

While the Dukes were certainly excited to take action, they had to wait a little longer when thick fog settled over the circuit and delayed the race by 90 minutes. After the fog cleared, the winds were relatively weak and the Allegheny River was literally drenched in sunshine. The water was mostly shallow and with no noticeable current it was as close to a perfect racing day as one could wish.

Start the day for the dukes Mikayla Bayto took part in the Women’s Open once and opened her race by overtaking two boats in the first half of the race, which gave her a lot of positive momentum in the second half of the competition. Bayto finished her race strong and took a bronze medal for the Dukes.

Next up for Duquesne were three 4+, one with just second year students, one with students and juniors, and one with pure freshmen. In addition to the race itself, it was also an opportunity for some intrasquad competitions for the lower classes.

With all three crews starting in the middle of the starting order, there were many Duquesne boats to be chased in front and crews who pushed them from back to front. In the end, the mixed runner-up / Junior 4+ finished second, the pure runner-up 4+ finished third, just 7.5 seconds between the two who landed behind Robert Morris. The freshmen won 11th place out of the 18 boats on the course.

Just after the 4 + s ran down the course, senior Julia Stoll and junior Jillian Peters took a couple together for the third time in their career. In a few previous exercises, the two women found a way to move the boat well and Duquesne’s coaching staff decided to give them a shot at a race. After a short time in the boat, the women got together for a respectable race and came third.

The last race of the day for Duquesne was the Women’s Open 8+, where three 8+ started on the water. In the starting order, the first Duquesne boat started in third place, behind Penn State and Case Western Reserve.

The Dukes hunted both the Nittany Lions and the Spartans and then increased their lead over the rest of the field to finish first that day.

The other two Duquesne 8+ started one behind the other in the back of the field. The second Duquesne 8+ overtook Robert Morris and Carnegie Mellon within the first minutes of the race and managed to chase the Cincinnati Bearcats at the finish. For their performance, the second Duquesne 8+ took bronze, Robert Morris came second.

The last Duquesne 8+ had a tough race, the first college head race for many of the athletes in the cup. They were able to make up the distance on the Robert Morris boat behind them as well as on the Robert Morris boat launched in front of them. At the end of a competitive race, the third Dukes boat was in ninth place with the tartans and was also less than a second ahead of Cincinnati.

Head coach Jennifer Langzeile: “All in all, it was a very positive day. We couldn’t have wished for better conditions for our first head race in almost two years, where we can continue to gain momentum. We look forward to the Yinzer Cup in a few weeks. “

NEXT UP
The Duquesne Dukes will return to action on October 23rd at the Yinzer Cup hosted by Robert Morris on the Ohio River, Neville Island.

RESULTS
Ladies Open 1x:

1. McDarragh Minnock (not affiliated): 16: 12.4
2. Suzanne Maddamma (Steel City): 16: 22.3
3. Mikayla Bayto (Duquesne): 16: 46.2
4. Victoria Mather (Western Reserve): 16: 55.1
5. Anyoina Dumitriu (Sylvan Scullers): 17: 43.7
6. Maraea Ody (Robert Morris): 17: 59.9
7. Emily Kerry (Robert Morris): 18: 43.6
8. Weiheng Qin (Carnegie Mellon): 19: 11.4

Ladies Open 4+

1. Robert Morris: 14: 39.0
2. Duquesne: 15: 06.7
3. Duquesne: 15: 14.2
4. Fall Western Reserve: 15: 25.1
5. Franklin & Marshall: 15: 28.2
6. Carnegie Mellon: 15: 36.0
7. Pittsburgh: 15: 49.2
8. Pittsburgh: 15:50.1
9. Fall Western Reserve: 15: 52.1
10. Penn State: 16:06
11. Duquesne: 16: 30.4
12. Pittsburgh: 16:35.7
13. Penn State: 16: 40.6
14. Cincinnati: 16: 45.3
15. Miami (OH): 16: 45.5
16. Robert Morris: 16: 48.3
17. Carnegie Mellon: 18: 14.6
18. Robert Morris: 19: 02.2

Women Open 2-

1. Carnegie Mellon Alumni: 15: 54.8
2. Detroit Boat Club: 16: 22.9
3. Duquesne: 16: 29.8

Ladies Open 8+

1. Duquesne: 14: 11.9
2. Robert Morris: 14: 35.2
3. Duquesne: 14: 55.9
4. Penn State: 15:18.4
5. Miami (OH): 15:30.4
6. Pittsburgh: 15: 32.4
7. Case Western Reserve: 15: 41.8
8. Cincinnati: 15: 42.3
9. Carnegie Mellon: 15: 43.1
10. Duquesne: 15: 43.1
11. Robert Morris: 15: 50.5
12. Robert Morris: 17: 39.2
13. Carnegie Mellon: 17: 43.3