The Bison men traveled to Camden, New Jersey to compete at the Knecht Cup hosted by Villanova University over the weekend on the Cooper River.
Due to some last-minute personnel changes, the Bison men were forced to scratch the Freshman 8+ entry, instead entering two boats in the Men’s 2nd 8+ Event.
The Men’s 2nd 8+ “B” entry faced stiff competition from event favorites in Drexel and Temple Universities, finishing 5th in the Semi-Final, ahead of rival St. Joseph’s University in 6th. In the second semi-final of the Men’s 2nd 8+, the Bucknell “A” entry was in heated competition for 2nd place with the likes of St. Joseph’s and Boston College at 1000 meters to go with rival Trinity College in the lead, Trinity held their lead of 1 length while the Bucknell Men pulled away from the 3rd and 4th place crews to secure a 2nd place finish and a spot in the final on Sunday. The final for the Men’s 2nd 8+ was hotly contested, with the Bison men challenging for the lead with 1000m to go until technical mishaps left them struggling to maintain momentum, falling to a 5th place finish.
The Bucknell Varsity 8+ started the weekend off with a bang, scoring an open water win over Trinity College in the Saturday morning heat. The win set stage for a fast semi –final matchup against the likes of Drexel, LaSalle University and Marist College. The Bucknell Varsity maintained a qualifying position throughout the first 1500 meters of the race, but were unable to replicate their earlier speed, losing out on a spot in the final by 0.2s to Marist College. The Varsity 8+ went on to win the Petite final over rivals Boston College, Mercyhurst and Hobart with a winning time of 5:54.54.
The Bison Men will now prepare for their next competition April 21st in Geneva, NY where they will duel Hobart College, led by former Bucknell Head Coach Paul Bugenhagen.