PHILADELPHIA - Sophomore Jacque Nowers (Ames, Iowa) (coxswain), sophomore Maggie Benhart (St. Charles, Ill.), senior Brittany Michael (Pleasant Hill, Iowa), freshman Katie Serbin (Hannibal, Mo.) and junior Jessica Nightser (Council Bluffs, Iowa) won their initial heat to advance to the semifinals in the Division I women's open weight 4+ race on the first day of the 2013 Aberdeen Dad Vail Regatta.

If the Bulldogs are able to advance out of the semifinals tomorrow morning they will race in the race final in the afternoon. Drake's heat on Saturday morning is loaded with top teams such as No. 1 seed Bucknell, Lehigh, William and Mary, Fairfield and the University of Florida. The race will start at 8:27 central standard time. The final in the afternoon can be seen on ESPN3.com.

“We had a really good rowing performance today,” Drake head coach Charlie DiSilvestro said. “We were technical in our race and the girls did a great job of executing the race plan. We are excited for tomorrow morning to face some more excellent teams and the environment and the crowd will be even better. This is a truly special day at a first-class rowing event.”

The Aberdeen Dad Vail is the largest college regatta in North America and it first started in 1934. The race course is 2,000 meters, which is an Olympic length course, and features six race lanes. The Dad Vail features approximately 150 different races.

This will be the final race of the season for the team.