The West Virginia rowing team will conclude its season at the Eastern College Athletic Conference Regatta Championship Saturday on the Cooper River in Cherry Hill, N.J.
The Mountaineers will be familiar with the territory after competing in Cherry Hill on April 10 in the Knecht Cup Regatta, where the team competed four boats in the Grand and Petite Finals.
"There’s definitely a comfort factor," said WVU head coach Jimmy King. "We will be familiar with the surroundings. For the coxswains, knowing what the water is like, the warm-up area, the starting area … I think that familiarity is very helpful to the rowers."
It will be the last race for nine seniors, including co-captain Caroline Rettigg, who is a member of the varsity 8+ and varsity 4+ boat.
"I’m sure I will have a lot of emotions going through my head," Rettigg said. "It will be sad, but hopefully this (last race) will be a good end to the season and my experience as a rower here at WVU."
King said he just wants his seniors to finish their careers on a "high note."
"In my mind, as well as their teammates’ minds, the focus is sending (the seniors) off with the best racing experience possible," he said.
The Mountaineers will compete against 10 other teams, including several squads they haven’t competed against all season including Bucknell, Duquesne, Navy and Robert Morris.
However, Rettigg said the team’s main expectation is to continue to build on recent success, including WVU’s sixth-place finish in the Big East.
Still, Rettigg said the team has yet to reach its potential.
"Hopefully, we’ll have a better turn out this week than we did last week at the Big East Championship" said Rettigg, who was awarded second-team all-Big East honors Monday along with teammate Kimberly Benda.
WVU will also compete against Colgate, Delaware, Fordham and George Washington as well as Big East Conference opponents Rutgers and Villanova, who the Mountaineers topped last week in the league standings.
Bucknell is the early favorite heading into the ECAC, King said.
"Our goals are to do better against some of those schools we have already seen," King said. "We obviously want to finish as high up in the standings as we can."
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