The fall season for collegiate rowing came to a close this past weekend with the Head of the Schuylkill Regatta . The regatta saw two days of competition, yet is not generally seen as a  significant race. However, the race did serve as a final opportunity for Fordham to compete against some of its fellow Atlantic 10 conference members, notably Duquesne University, La Salle University and St. Joseph’s University. Fordham raced with multiple boats across three events: the Women’s Championship Four against 39 other teams, the Women’s College Novice Eight against 16 other teams and the Women’s Club Championship Eight against 16 other teams.

In the Four, the varsity quad placed 14th out of 40, turning in their most competitive performance of the season. The boat was narrowly beaten out by Duquesne’s varsity four but finished ahead of the bulk of the competition, including Duquesne’s two other competing boats. Fordham’s other entry in the four event found itself near the bottom, placing 34th out of 40. However, the race still served as valuable race experience.

The Novice Eight boat raced later in the day, unfortunately, faring poorly against the competition. With a time of 18:51.365, the boat finished 16th out of 17. However, the Novice stands as a somewhat insignificant race that is more about exposing newcomers to the competitive waters, and it did just that.

The Club Championship Eight, which had 41 competing boats, saw four entries from Fordham’s end. The four boats placed 3rd, 12th and 17th with the last boat being disqualified. Fordham’s top boat managed to finish ahead of all entries from A-10 rivals St. Joseph’s and La Salle. This marked the first time this season that Fordham has medaled at an event, showing how much the team has developed in the recent months.

The team’s fall season now comes to a close. Moving forward, competition will cease until the spring, and the team will focus on strength, conditioning and preparing for May’s A-10 Championship, where the competition begins to count even more.