25YEARSAGO Villanova claws their way to a repeat championship in 2000 Varsity Eight In the fall of 1999, the Villanova women’s crew comprised of bow, Amber Kyle, two-seat Kristin Bubnis, three-seat Kelly Vasek, four-seat Greta Kropp, five-seat Meghan Sarbanis, six-seat Maureen McCurry, seven-seat Hannah Moore, stroke Lindsay Walters, and coxswain Chrissy Cericola, returned to campus determined to defend their 1999 Dad Vail Women’s Varsity Eight Champion Title. With six of the nine members from the 1999 championship boat returning, the 2000 varsity eight crew was one of the strongest boats in Villanova Women’s Rowing history. We worked hard all year for each other and our coach, Jack St. Clair. We deeply liked, supported and respected each other. Little did we understand the true value learned over the course of those months sweating and pushing each other until much later in life. This boat truly had moments of perfect harmony as one, pure magic and not many of us have been able to experience this feeling since. We had a successful spring season leading up to the Dad Vail Regatta. We entered the race feeling confident that we could win back-to back varsity eight titles. The competition this year looked different and appeared faster than the previous year. There were new entries and new schools to compete against. After winning both our heat and semifinal, we were positioned in lane four for the final, which was an ideal lane for this race on the Schuylkill River race course. We led narrowly for most of the race, except for a brief moment just after the 1,000-meter mark when Fordham pulled in front. Determined to let nothing stop them from their goal of repeating the ‘Cats responded immediately, pulling back ahead where they would stay for the rest of the way winning the race by only .89 seconds ahead of Fordham. Winning this coveted Dad Vail Gold Medal meant so much to us and it still brings back wonderful memories of this magical time together 25 years ago.
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