Rowing: WVU to Compete in BIG EAST Championship
April 24, 2010 12:12 PM | General
April 24, 2010
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University rowing team will travel to Worcester, Mass., on Sunday, April 25, to compete in the 2010 BIG EAST Championship, which will take place on Lake Quinsigamond.
WVU will compete against several teams including BIG EAST foes Connecticut, Georgetown, Louisville, Notre Dame, Rutgers and Syracuse.
"We're really looking forward to this weekend's racing,” says coach Jimmy King. “In addition to the solid week of training we've had on the Monongahela River, we're particularly excited to be traveling to the Big East Championship with a team double the size of last year's squad."
The Mountaineers will have five boats competing in the event including Varsity 8+, second Varsity 8+, Varsity 4+, second Varsity 4+ and Novice 8+ boats, as opposed to the three boats that have been entered by WVU each year since the BIG EAST Championship began in 2005.
WVU will begin racing at 8:10 a.m. in the first heat of the Varsity 8+ event, followed by racing in heat two of the second Varsity 8+ event at 8:40 a.m. The Mountaineers will continue to compete in the second heat of the Varsity 4+ race at 9 a.m., along with their final heat race of the day in heat one of the Novice 8+ event at 9:10 a.m.
The Petite and Grand Finals for these events will be held after the second Varsity 4+ boat competes in the Finals at 11:40 a.m.
"I think our seniors find particular gratification and pride in seeing how the team has grown since they began competing for and representing West Virginia University,” adds King. “Eight seniors will soon complete their rowing careers as Mountaineers and without their dedication and determination, we certainly would not have taken the steps forward we have in my time here.”
The seniors that will be leaving the Mountaineers at the end of the 2010 spring season will be Varsity 8+ competitors Kimberly Benda, Caroline Rettig, Brett Krumholz and Amanda Mahasky, along with second Varsity 8+ member Stephanie Roof and Varsity 4+ contributors Brittany Brooks, Kaitlyn Brownson and Kensie Phillips.
The Mountaineers finished in eighth place during last year’s Championship with 38 points. WVU captured a first-place finish in the Varsity 8+ Petite Final, along with the Novice 8+’s fifth-place finish and the Varsity 4+’s sixth-place finish in the Grand Finals.
For heats, lane assignments and results, go to www.BIGEAST.org.
