Hurricanes Take Three Races against Duke
April 29, 2005
<?xml:namespace prefix=”st1″ ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags”?>MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – The University of Miami rowing squad took part in a series of dual races against Atlantic Coast Conference rival Duke Friday morning on the waters of Indian Creek in Miami Beach. <?xml:namespace prefix=”o” ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office”?>
Racing against the tide with spotty crosswind on an otherwise clear and sunny day, the Hurricanes took three of the seven races on the 2,000 meter course.
The first race of the day saw a close battle in the Varsity 8+. The Blue Devils, who pulled ahead of the Hurricanes for third place at the ACC Championships on April 23rd, once again edged Miami clocking in first with a time of 6:48.70, .5 seconds ahead of UM’s time of 6:49.20.
“We didn’t get it done today,” said head coach Debra Morgan. “Our blade work kept us from winning. We have two weeks until Regionals to improve how we are using our oars to move the boat.”
“Six days ago we lost by .9 seconds. Today, they beat us by .5 seconds. We’re half a second closer to them today. We’ll see them again at Regionals and we’ll be ready.”
“We’re starting to come together more and are responding to the Cox’s calls more efficiently,” said Sarah Conlon, who earned All-ACC honors on stroke seat of UM’s Varsity 8+. “I know that we are going to get faster for Central Sprints. There is a lot more speed in us.”
Duke’s Junior Varsity 8+, ranked fifth in the South Region, crossed the finish with a time of 7:05.62 to claim an outright victory over the Hurricanes JV crew, who clocked in a time of 7:12.42.
The Hurricanes claimed their first race of the day when UM’s Novice 8+ crew crossed the finish 1.94 seconds ahead of the Blue Devils with a time of 7:26.32. Duke clocked in at 7:27.86.
Miami’s Varsity 4+ “A” crew of coxswain Laura Comeau, Sarah Conlon, Karen Wiley, Natasha Lejer, and Rachel Clausing took an open water lead to claim first place with a time of 7:32.53, over 13 seconds ahead of Duke, who clocked in a time of 7:45.83.
“The race went well considering that we don’t race a lot in our fours,” noted Conlon. ” We were satisfied with coming in first.”
Duke took a commanding lead in the Novice 4+, which they took to the finish for a time of 7:59.97. Miami posted a time of 8:37.49.
The final race of the day, the Varsity 4+, saw Miami win the race 10.34 seconds ahead of Duke.
“I was really pleased with the Varsity 4+, “noted Morgan. “They had a strong performance against four members of Duke’s JV 8+. Duke challenged our fours and they really stepped up to that challenge.”
The Hurricanes return to action at the Central Sprints, the regional qualifier for the NCAA Championships that will take place in Oak Ridge, Tenn. May 14th through the 15th.
