Morgan Leach
Jimmy King
2013 Season Preview Jimmy King enters his sixth season at WVU March 16-17 Oak Ridge Cardinal Invitational Melton Hill Lake Oak Ridge, Tenn. King: “Due to our move to the Big 12 and affiliation with Conference USA, we did alter our scheduling to include this regatta, not only because of the level of competition we’ll face, but also because we’ll return to this site at the end of the season for the Conference USA Championship. Hosted by Louisville, the Oak Ridge Invitational will feature 11 schools competing twice on Saturday and once on Sunday in tri-races.” Last Time: This will be the first time in program history that the Mountaineers are competing at the Oak Ridge Cardinal Invitational.
Courtney Schrand, Rachelle Purych, Kelly Kramer and Rachel Cokeley April 6 Alabama with Central Florida Black Warrior River Tuscaloosa, Ala. King: “This is a conference match-up (Conference USA), which is kind of a neat thing for us in rowing. We don’t often have regular season conference races as is common in other sports. We have a great opportunity to see how we fare against these schools now rather than getting a first glimpse six weeks later at the conference championship.” Last Time: This will be the first time in program history that the Mountaineers are competing in Alabama. April 13-14 Knecht Cup Regatta Cooper River Cherry Hill, N.J. King: “The Knecht Cup is a large mid-season regatta that has become a constant on our spring schedule. Last season, over two dozen division I women’s programs competed. In total, 69 men’s and women’s programs competed at the Knecht Cup. This is the only competition from last season that remains on our 2013 schedule.”
42 | West Virginia University
Last Time: The West Virginia University rowing team concluded racing at the Knecht Cup, with all four crews advancing to the finals for just the fourth time in program history. The novice 4+ crew comprised of Bethany Anne Sapen, Melinda Sharon, Enya Messersmith, Kaitlyn Eason and coxswain Alexandra Basil paved the way for the Mountaineers, having advanced to the Grand Final of their event for the second consecutive year. The varsity eight crew of Hilary Meale, Jenelle Spencer, Rachelle Purych, Danielle Widecrantz, Kelly Kramer, Shannon Gribbons, Karen Verwey, Courtney Schrand and coxswain Mallory Fisher advanced to the Petite Final where they faced Old Dominion, Miami, Temple, Drexel and George Mason. West Virginia raced to a fourthplace finish, posting a time of 6:42.72. Their performance was good enough for a 10th-place finish out of a total 31 entries.