Women’s rowing finishes with rank higher than ever before

This year the women’s crew team has something to brag about: a second place victory at the Big East Rowing Challenge on the waters of Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, Mass., and two first-place finishes and one fifth place finish at the Lexus Central/Southern Sprints.

On April 25, the University of Miami Women’s Crew team took to the road and prepared for their competitions at the 2004 Big East Rowing Challenge. Knowing Miami had finished sixth in each of the three Big East regatta’s dating back to 2001, the women knew they had to bring it.

At the end of the regatta, the women’s rowing team had two second-place finishes by its varsity four and novice eight boats. The varsity boat consisting of Laura Comeau (Cox), Karen Wiley, Jenny Krawec, Jacqui Julie, Sarah Conlon, Rachel Clausing, Caroline Stuart, Ananda Chou, and Jordanna Heywood finished third in their regatta. The varsity eight trailed shortly after second place Syracuse (7:00.43) and first place Notre Dame (6:54.89) with a time of 7:01.95.

“We had a phenomenal day with some really good racing,” Head Coach Debra Morgan said. “We haven’t beaten teams like Rutgers and Boston College in the three seasons I’ve been here, and even a couple of years prior to that so for us to come out and finish second overall today was a major accomplishment.”

Following their great accomplishment at the Big East Regatta, the Miami women traveled to Oak Ridge, Tenn., for the 2004 Lexus Central/Southern Sprints with intent for success.

The women’s team was extremely successful, leading with the varsity eight’s trail of open water to take first in their regatta. They finished at a time of 6:56.8, more than five seconds in front on second-place Indiana.

The Junior-Varsity crew took first place in their “C” finals with a time of 7:14.4, almost two seconds ahead of second-place University of Central Florida.

“They really pulled themselves together today and had a great performance,” remarked Morgan.

The Hurricanes’ Novice Eight crew finished their race with a time of 7:16.0 taking fifth place, marking the highest finish for a Miami Novice Eight crew since the inception of the regatta in 1997.

“I was quite pleased with the Novice Eight. I really think they were able to step up to the challenge and really elevated their performance a whole other level this weekend,” Morgan stated.

The Lexus/Central Sprints concluded with University of Miami ranking 13th overall and fifth in the South Region. I

The women’s rowing team will hold an informational meeting for 2004 tryouts, Thursday, Aug. 26 at 7 p.m. at the Hecht Athletic Center.

The meeting is open to all students, no experience necessary.

For more information please contact assistant rowing coach Andrea Saathoff at 305-284-3811 or email at asaathoff@miami.edu.