For the third straight year, the Temple Men’s Varsity Eight came up short in its quest for the Dad Vail Trophy, finishing second to Purdue in the championship race Saturday afternoon on the Schuylkill River. The Boilermakers jumped to an early lead and the Owls never mounted a serious challenge in losing by more than two seconds.Temple was the clear favorite in Saturday’s final, having beaten Purdue as well as defending champ Marietta College at a recent event in Oak Ridge, Tenn. The Owls seemed poised to regain the gold medal they last captured in 2004.
Temple and Marietta rowed from the most favorable third and fourth lanes in the title race. But it was Purdue that made an early move on the way to its first-ever Dad Vail Varsity Eight crown.
“We were never in it, really,” Owls Coach Gavin White said afterward. “After the first 30 strokes, [Purdue] made a move and took off. They got out to a full length lead and by the bridge they were open water ahead. We took some attacks and kept moving back into them the best we could, but when you are in a lead like that you watch the other crew and every time they make a move you counter. It was a very bright race strategy on their part, to get us down early. Purdue just rowed a brilliant race.”
The Owls finished second, followed by Florida Tech, Marietta, Jacksonville, and Army.
Temple did capture two gold medals on Saturday, as the Junior Varsity Eight and the Freshman/Novice Four won their respective events. That bodes well for the future, along with the fact that the Owls return six of the eight members from their Varsity Eight boat.
Following are the results from the Men’s Varsity Eight finals:
1) Purdue 5:42.59
2) Temple 5:44.83
3) Florida Tech 5:46.19
4) Marietta 5:47.88
5) Jacksonville 5:51.39
6) Army 5:55.36