May 12, 2007

PHILADELPHIA - The Dayton Flyers' Second Varsity 8 advanced to the final round and finished second overall at the Dad Vail Regatta.

The Second Varsity 8 rowed a time of 6:56.43, only 3.08 seconds behind Buffalo who won the heat for the Coleman D. Boyland Trophy.

UD advanced to the finals after rowing a time of 6:47.81 in the semifinals ousting Purdue, Temple, George Mason, Santa Clara and Tulsa.

Meanwhile, the Varsity 8 tallied an eighth place finish, surpassing the boat's previous best of a ninth place finish in 2005.

"This is the best overall finish we've had at the Dad Vail regatta," head coach Mike Farrey said. "The Varsity 8 and 2nd Varsity return most members and we look forward to coming back after summer break to open up our 2007-2008 season. Assistant coach Derek Copeland has a strong recruiting class coming in who should make an instant impact on boatspeed."

Dayton's Varsity 8 rowed a time of 6:44.04 in the semifinals. The boat won their quarterfinal heat with a time of 6:55.74. The Flyers Varsity 8 came in second on Friday with a time of 7:04.38, less than five seconds from the leader.

The Novice 4 just missed the cut to advance to the finals finishing in third with a time of 8:18.6.

The Dad Vail Regatta is the largest collegiate regatta in the United States, with over 100 colleges and Universities from the U.S. and Canada.