Rowing: WVU Has Strong Showing at SIRA Regatta
April 17, 2006 02:39 PM | General
April 17, 2006
OAKRIDGE, Tenn. - The West Virginia University rowing team had a strong showing as they competed at the Southern Intercollegiate Regatta, April 14-15, in Oakridge, Tenn.
"All boats did respectively well this weekend," head coach Nancy LaRocque said. "Although we aren't close to our top speed yet, we made huge gains this weekend with our racing. I will be excited to see our boats moving faster as the weekends of racing progress."
The Varsity 8 started out in a tough head against Louisville, Purdue, Tulsa, Cincinnati and Jacksonville and placed fourth. That qualified them for the "B" final where they finished fourth behind SMU, Purdue and Tulsa, but managed to defeat Jacksonville as well as BIG EAST foe Cincinnati.
The Varsity 4 had terrific heats to advance to the A/B semifinals after edging out Barry University by a mere .5 seconds. In the semifinal, they just missed making the "A" final by .5 seconds. In the "B" final, the Mountaineers placed sixth behind Kansas, Northwestern State, Cincinnati, Georgia Tech and Florida Tech.
"They truly raced their hearts out," LaRocque said. "Each boat's line-up is really starting to gel."
The Mountaineers get back in the water against Bucknell and Cincinnati on Saturday, April 22, in Lewistown, Pa.
