For the first time in 10 years, the crew team hosted the 35th annual Murphy Cup from its own boathouse on Saturday. It was the team’s first regatta at the East Park Canoe House.
The rowing team also hosted the event, its second at the boathouse after its sweep of Lehigh University on March 18.
“There were a little more distractions than I would have been happy with,” crew coach Brian Perkins said. “People wandering through and taking the tour of the building. The kids are sort of getting a feel for what doors to come into or out of. There was a little confusion, but that was just a growing pains kind of thing. It was very exciting to have a home, to give up the dock at our own boathouse.”
Three of the crew team’s boats won gold medals at the event. The Novice 8 boat won with a time of six minutes, 0.85 seconds, which was 13 seconds faster than any other boat. The Novice 4 won the gold with a time of 6:49.
“It shows the depth of some our freshman recruits,” Perkins said. “I’ve been saying it all along. This is a very deep, very qualified freshman class.”
The third Varsity 8 boat rounded out Temple’s first place victories. The Owls also picked up a bronze medal from their Varsity 4 boat.
Temple’s Varsity 8 boat won its first heat and finished fifth overall. The Owls are still trying to replace the seniors from last year’s boat that medaled at the Dad Vail Regatta for the first time since 2008.
“It was a very big group, a lot of personalities and it’s been tough to replace,” Perkins said. “But I think we have the speed here to replace those guys, but we just kind of haven’t found it yet.”
The rowing team sent boats to the finals in the Varsity 8, second Varsity 8, Varsity 4, second Varsity 4 and Novice 8 races.
The Owls’ best finish was the Novice 8 boat, which won the bronze medal with a time of 7:01.24. The Varsity 8 boat placed fifth in the grand finals, finishing in 6:36.
Owen McCue can be reached at owen.mccue@temple.edu or on Twitter @Owen_McCue. Follow The Temple News @TheTempleNews and @TTN_Sports.
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