Braving clouds, drizzle and 40-degree temperatures, the women's rowing team took to the Charles River Sunday for the 41st Head of the Charles Regatta.
The Varsity Eight finished 16th out of 47 entries in highly competitive Women's Championship Eights Race.
The two-day competition, held annually in Cambridge, Mass., is the largest of its kind in the world-college and high school teams travel from as far away as England and Germany, and Duke's competition included the Canadian National Team.
Along the approximately three-mile course, the 47 entries raced each other and the clock, starting at 15 second intervals. Duke took the 11th starting position, allowing them a relatively clear path along the course.
"It was nice because we had the Canadian National Team in front of us and Texas right behind us," coxswain Sarah Shapiro said. "Canada pulled away from us and Texas fell back so we had a clear path"
The Blue Devils came out strong, finishing the first segment of the race in 4:08, then slowed a bit through the next section, before pushing through the final segment.
With a final time of 17:48, Duke finished just 7.45 percent off the winning boat, the US Rowing team from the Princeton Training Center.
The Blue Devil boat consisted of Shapiro, Michelle Lancto, Emma Darling, Virginia Kane, Lia Hart, Emily Herrington, Alissa Van Amam, Leah Frank-Finney and Krista Harryman.
Duke will try to carry its momentum into the Class Day Races in Bahama, N.C., Oct. 29.
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