Rowing: Varsity Four Takes Second
September 29, 2008 03:09 PM | General
By Kelly Tuckwiller for MSNsportsNET.com
September 29, 2008
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - The West Virginia University rowing team’s varsity four boat finished in second place at the Head of the Ohio, on the Allegheny River in Pittsburgh, Pa., on Saturday, Sept. 27.
The team ‘A’ boat of Jenelle Spencer, Kenise Phillips, Kim Benda, Alita Meyers and coxswain Stephanie Brown, finished the open 4+ race with a time of 17:06.7.
“The second place crew finished well despite rating rather low in the first third of the race. As the race progressed, the crew gradually raised their stroke rate, but they gave up too much early on to the winning crew from the Baltimore Rowing Club,” says Head Coach Jimmy King. “I would have liked to see this more experienced crew race a bit more aggressively, but given that we've done very little rowing on the water at fall racing rates, it's a good result.”
Also competing in the open 4+ race was team ‘B’ comprised of Keyara Stevenson, Katie Walsh, Rachel Viglianco, Brett Krumholz and coxswain Gillian Hanbury that took eighth place. The Mountaineers crossed the line in 18:09.0.
“I'm especially pleased with the performance of our second entry that placed eighth. The rowers in that crew were all members of last spring's novice eight and they finished just over a minute behind our second place crew,” says King. “These young rowers will make great gains in their second year in simply rowing more quality strokes with their more experienced teammates.”
The Mountaineers will close out their fall season with a trip to the Head of the Occoquan in Fairfax Station, Va, on Saturday, Nov. 1.
