WOMEN'S ROWING

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Rudy Wieler

BUFFALO, NY ­ The inaugural Harvey Cup will be contested on Sunday, April 25, 2004 as crew teams from the University at Buffalo and Eastern Michigan University begin an ongoing series. The Harvey Cup will be awarded to the winning team of the final race of the day, the varsity eight, and will remain with that team until the next season. The races will be held on the Tonawanda Creek at the UB Rowing Boathouse at Amherst's Veterans Canal Park.

Four races are slated with the Bulls and Eagles competing in the varsity four, first and second varsity eight and novice eight competitions. Racing is expected to begin at 8:00 am with the final race starting around 9:00 am.

The Harvey Cup is named for Associate Athletic Director Nan Harvey who served UB athletics for nearly 30 years before passing away on September 2, 2003 after valiantly battling a lengthy illness. As a student, Harvey was member of UB's women's basketball team and later served as head coach (1985-1990). She also coached UB's softball program from 1983 to 1985. In 1996, she was named UB's Senior Woman Administrator, and she served in that capacity until she passed away.

Starting an ongoing series and perhaps forming a rivalry with Eastern Michigan did not come out of the blue. UB and Eastern Michigan are the only two programs in the Mid-American Conference that sponsor crew at the varsity intercollegiate level."Two years ago, Eastern Michigan University invited us to a scrimmage with their developing program," said UB crew head coach Rudy Wieler. "Some of this was arranged through Nan Harvey.

"When Nan passed away this past September, I took it upon myself to contact Eastern Michigan and see if they wanted to have a home-and-home, year in and year out, with a trophy honoring Nan Harvey as a prize for the varsity eight," Wieler continued. "[UB Interim Director of Athletics] Bill Maher gave the idea his blessing and we went from there. It was Nan's idea to get something going between the two programs and it was my idea to honor Nan. I just thought it was appropriate."

Members of the Harvey family are expected to be in attendance to present the winning varsity eight crew with the cup. The winners will defend the title in the spring of 2005 in Ypsilanti, MI with competition returning to Buffalo in 2006.