Wyandotte Women Place 2nd at Hebda Cup Regatta

The Wyandotte Bears women’s rowing team took second place at Saturday's .

The Riverview Pirates won the overall event, which took place along the Detroit River in Wyandote.

After weeks of cold weather and dangerous winds, there was a concern that the regatta was going to be canceled. During the week, the weather in the area produced 30-40 mph winds and heavy rain.

But all was good Saturday morning when the races began at 8 a.m. Along with the early morning sunshine came a chill in the air.  When the races began, the temperature was 40 degrees.  An hour later, the temperature had risen to 45 degrees. By the end of the races at 11:30 a.m., the temperature was as high as 50 degrees. Luckily, that change occurred at the end of the event because the wind speed picked up along with the temperature.

"The weather was good, but it was also a little windier than what we wanted for the kids," Wyandotte head coach Amy Peterson said.

Peterson said she was impressed with her team's performance despite not having had the chance to have many practices yet this season due to inclement weather.

“As of right now, overall, we are better than last year,” she said. “We are a young team so there is still room to grow right now.” 

The Bears performance on the water translated to multiple awards for the team.

The team placed third in the WJR8 race with a time of 7:18.07.  The MV2X+ team also put up a good fight, finishing only five seconds behind a Northville team that finished first with a time of 6:21. Wyandotte was featured in the MV4+ race and finished third with a time of 6:11.10.

Possibly the biggest surprise of the day came from the WN8+ team that finished in first place with a time of 7:32.00, just two seconds ahead of Cranbrook. The Bears also finished with third place finishes in the MN4+, MJR8+, MLT4+, and WV8+.   

Wyandotte senior was quick to praise his team and said he sees great things in the future.

“Today was good for the team," he said. "The novices were able to gain great experience. Personally, I see great things building from today.” 

also participated and took first place in the W1X with a time of 8:25.94 and finished second in the M1X with a time of 8:42.75.

Wyandotte will have little time to enjoy their success from today as they will return to the water on Saturday for the . Wyandotte hosts that event, which kicks off at 7:30 a.m. at the . Entries are due Sunday, so event organizers don't yet know which schools will be participating.