March 10, 2008

Clemson Sweeps Boston College in Rowing Scrimmage

CLEMSON, S.C. - Despite poor weather conditions, the Clemson rowing team performed well in a scrimmage against Boston College on Lake Hartwell Saturday morning. Gusting winds and cold temperatures led to a change in the format of the regatta, with each piece being shortened to 1000 meters with a stroke rating cap of 30.

Clemson entered three boats in the varsity race. The Varsity 4+ races were cancelled, so the Varsity 4+ and Second Varsity 4+ combined to make the Third Varsity 8+. In the first piece, Clemson's Varsity 8+ crew finished first with a time of 3:21.0. The crew was coxed by Elyse Roenick and included Hillary Cumbest, Ford Heiner, Michelle Nance, Mairi Trimboli, Megan Bendik, Liz Robb, Suzanne Van Fleet, and Jessica Leidecker. The Varsity 8+ crew continued their success in the remaining two pieces, finishing with times of 3:22.7 and 3:31.2. Clemson's Second Varsity 8+ was runner-up in each of the pieces, posting times of 3:29.4, 3:33.3 and 3:44.9. Rowing together for the first time this season, the Third Varsity 8+ crew picked up a third place finish in the final piece of the morning with a time of 3:51.6. Boston College's Varsity 8+ crew finished third in the first and second pieces.

UNC Falls To Alabama In Season's First Action

RALEIGH, N.C. - The North Carolina rowing team saw its first competition of the spring on Saturday morning at Lake Wheeler, with visiting Alabama winning all five races. On a windy morning that saw racing pushed up an hour to avoid the most disruptive weather, the Tar Heels gained valuable experience heading into a week of Spring Break training.

"We talked to our team about making sure that each practice is a top-notch effort technically and a top-notch effort as far as how hard we're pulling," UNC coach Sarah Haney said. "We've challenged them with that and hopefully when we get to Spring Break and get some good training, we'll see how we come back and improve on the things that we were deficient in this weekend."

In the varsity eight, Alabama finished in 7:13.98 with North Carolina coming across at 7:27.30. The UNC lineup was Shannon Wilson (coxswain), Kelsey Grich, Lisy McIntee, Lindley Barrow, Cara Van Dorn, Megan McMullin, Whitney Hileman, Ruby Woodside and Kathryn Winz.