Rowing: Mountaineers Complete SIRAs
April 20, 2009 05:42 PM | General
By Kelly Tuckwiller for MSNsportsNET.com
April 20, 2009
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University rowing team completed its trip to the Southern Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championship Regatta in Oak Ridge, Tenn., on April 18-19, with three boats placing in the petite finals.
“The SIRA Regatta is a regional championship regatta and the first of three very challenging events for our program as we enter the championship portion of the racing season,” Coach Jimmy King says. “The Varsity 8+ is racing well and making small improvements week-to-week. At the Murphy Cup, the first race of spring, we lost to Jacksonville by about five seconds and managed to put our bow across the line just ahead of theirs this weekend, which is a sign of progress.”
The Varsity 8+ finished in fifth in the petite finals this weekend, with a time of 7:25.5, a deck ahead of Jacksonville (7:26.0). Caroline Rettig, Jenelle Spencer, Jessica Kelly, Rachel Viglianco, Kimberly Benda, Alita Meyers, Brett Krumholz, Kensie Phillips and coxswain Amanda Mahasky led the boat to the petite finals, with a sixth-place finish (7:05.4) in Heat 1 on Saturday.
The Varsity 4+ boat placed 12th out of 27 entries this weekend with a sixth-place finish in the petite finals (8:43.9). To qualify, the crew of Keyara Stevenson, Anna-Claire Bowers, Stephanie Roof, Kathryn Walsh and coxswain Gillian Hanbury posted its best time of the weekend with a second-place showing (8:19.7) in its morning heat on Saturday. Later in the afternoon, WVU placed fourth with a time of 8:36.5 in the semi-finals to earn a spot in the petite finals.
Also competing this weekend was the Novice 8+ boat of Amelia Nelson, Alexandra Flavion, Alexa Waugh, Caitlin Murphy, Melissa Shaver, Shannon Gribbons, Jeannine McCarty, Lauren Washabaugh and coxswain Tina Cowan, which posted a second-place finish in the petite finals (7:37.9) behind Purdue (7:27.6).
For full results of this weekend’s SIRA Regatta, visit www.siraregatta.com.
The Mountaineers are set to return to action on Saturday, April 25, with a trip to the BIG EAST Championships in the Cooper River in Pennsauken, N.J.
