Hurricane Rowing Set to Compete in the Aramark South/Central Sprints

Hurricane Rowing Set to Compete in the Aramark South/Central Sprints

May 11, 2007

Coral Gables, Fla. – The University of Miami rowing team will head to the state of Tennessee this weekend to compete in the 2007 Aramark Central/South Region Sprints Saturday and Sunday, May 12 and 13 on Melton Hill Lake in Oak Ridge, Tenn. The Hurricanes will compete in the Varsity Four, JV Eight, and Varsity Eight races.

Racing will take place throughout the day with opening heats beginning in the morning at 9:00 a.m. and semifinals finishing up in the mid-afternoon. The finals of the races will be held Sunday, starting at 9:00 a.m.

Division I women’s rowing programs are divided into five different regions by the NCAA which includes the South, Central, Mid-Atlantic, New England and West. The Central/South Region Championship is the only regatta in the NCAA with various programs competing from the Central and South regions comprised of squads from Florida in the South, to Virginia in the East, Nebraska in the West and Minnesota in the North, totaling 30 teams.

This year, 23 schools, including nine with Varsity 8+ boats ranked in the national top 20, will compete for the Central and South Regional titles. Ranked crews in the Central Region include No. 3 Notre Dame, No. 6 Michigan, No. 7 Minnesota, No. 12 Ohio State and No. 13 Michigan State. Four crews from the South Region hold a spot in the polls, with No. 5 Virginia leading the way. Others ranked teams include No. 11 UCF, No. 17 Tennessee and No. 19 Louisville.

Miami will represent the South Region alongside teams from Clemson, Duke, Louisville, North Carolina, SMU, Tennessee, Texas, UCF and Virginia. The Central Region includes Cincinnati, Eastern Michigan, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kansas State, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Murray State, Notre Dame, Ohio State, and Wisconsin.

The Hurricanes will open competition Saturday at 10:10 a.m. with the Varsity Four, which will be competing against crews from UCF, Virginia, Wisconsin and Texas in the first heat. The JV Eight will race at 10:50 a.m. in Heat 1 against Kansas State, Louisville, Virginia, and UCF. The Varsity Eight will race boats from Kansas State, Duke, Virginia, UCF, and Murray State in Heat 2 beginning at 11:40 a.m.

Last season, the Hurricanes’ Open Four was the only Miami crew to qualify for the B-Final capturing a first place finish ahead of Michigan, Louisville, Texas, Cincinnati and Duke. In the C-Final, the Varsity Four and Varsity Eight squads captured first-place wins in their respective races, while the Junior Varsity Eight crew finished third.

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