One week after the John Carroll University Rowing Team was unable to race in a tri-meet in Wittenberg due to poor weather, the squad travelled to West Virginia with little racing experience this season. The 36th West Virginia Governor’s Cup, held in Charleston, attracted some of the top teams in the Midwest. Unlike previous years, there were only finals for the Eights, and the Fours races offered no opportunity for advancement regardless of placement.
The Women’s Varsity Eight, featuring 3 novices, took on crews from Xavier, Charleston, and Miami (OH) in their heat and finished last, just shy of Xavier. This loss meant that the Varsity women were unable to advance to the finals. After finishing the race, the women immediately went on to their next races, the Women’s Varsity Four. JCU entered two fours, and both received similar fates, taking 5th place out of five boats apiece.
The first men’s race was the Varsity 4, and the crew drew a tough heat featuring Virginian Tech, Carnegie Mellon, and Wittenberg. The CMU men took off fast and got an early lead, but the JCU men battled Virginia Tech for most of the race. Eventually, Virginia Tech took a short lead over JCU and held it, and JCU did the same to Wittenberg and earned a 3rd place finish. The Novice Men were in one of the most exciting races of the day, taking on Carnegie Mellon, Virginia Tech, Penn State, and Miami. The JCU novice men came out with a strong first 1000 meters, crossing the mark in 3rd place and moving on second. At the 750 meter mark, the crew caught a boat stopping crab, allowing Virginia Tech to move past them. The Blue Steak men recovered but were unable to get back their placement and finished in 4th.
As most of the day had been disappointing for the team, the Mixed Eight 1000 finally offered some hope. Taking on Charleston, Ohio University, Carnegie Mellon, Cleveland State, and Denison, the JCU team wanted to make a statement with their cross gender boat. The crew of Devin Eicher, Miles Nevin, Mark Nowicki, Matt Knestrick, Kayla Salamone, Lauren Penkala, Jill Kaiser, Maddy Culbertson, and coxswain Kate Schaeffer took first place.