The 1999 Spring Sprint Season In Review
Match Race vs. Central Florida and Jacksonville
Indian Creek – Miami Beach, FL
The spring season began with a match race against Central Florida and Jacksonville at the Hurricanes’ home course. Miami rowed in dominant fashion, placing first in seven of nine races they it entered.
The varsity women’s crew swept its intra-state competition in the four and eight races, with times of 8:13.0 and 6:52.48, respectively. UM’s eight outdistanced second-place Jacksonville (7:01.61) and third-place UCF (7:03.68) by nearly nine seconds. UM’s four defeated both UCF entries with a time of 8:13.0 to 8:15.9 and 8:32.75.
In the closest finish of the morning, Miami’s varsity men’s eight edged Jacksonville at the finish-marker for first place with a time of 6:23.09 to JU’s 6:23.52.
The morning began with Jacksonville placing first in the men’s varsity four and women’s novice four, while UM took second and UCF third. Miami swept the remaining seven races, including the men’s novice four and eight and women’s junior varsity and novice eight.
Clemson Sprints
Lake Hartwell – Clemson, SC
The UM men were next compete, at the Clemson Sprints. The Sprints featured over 20 teams, including Northeastern, Georgia Tech, Miami (OH), West Virginia, Furman, College of Charleston, The Citadel, Alabama and Auburn along with the Hurricanes and host school Clemson
The University of Miami varsity men’s four outdistanced host-school Clemson by five seconds to place first. In addition, the UM men also placed first in the novice four, while finishing second in the varsity eight and third in the novice eight.
In the varsity four, UM finished the 2,000-meter course with a time of 6:45.8 ahead of Clemson (6:51.1), Georgia Tech A (6:54.8), Georgia Tech B (6:55.8), Atlanta (7:08.0) and Middlebury (7:11.6).
In the novice four, the Hurricanes again beat out Clemson at the finishing line with a time of 7:13.9 to the Tigers’ 7:16.4. Clemson’s second entry placed third (7:16.4), while Miami (OH) took fourth (7:26.1) and Tennessee-Chattanooga fifth (7:34.0).
Miami’s varsity eight entry slowed in the final 500 meters to finish second behind Georgia Tech (6:10.2) with a time of 6:15.3. UM’s novice eight entry finished third behind both Clemson entries with a time of 6:45.1.
Florida Intercollegiate Rowing Association Regatta
By-Pass Canal – Tampa, FL
At the “state-championship” of Florida’s collegiate rowing programs, the Miami women were impressive winning five of seven races it was entered in.
Highlighting the Championships was UM’s eights, who swept all three races in the event. The UM women won the gold medal in the varsity, junior varsity and novice eight races.
In addition to the eight, Miami nearly repeated the “hat-trick” by winning the top honors in the varsity and junior Varsity fours.
In the novice fours, UM claimed the silver medal behind Central Florida. Also winning a silver medal, were UM’s varsity pairs entry.
In the overall point standings, Miami (52 points) finished second to Central Florida (77). Florida (39) finished in third, followed by Jacksonville (19), Tampa (17), Barry (14), Rollins (6), Florida Tech (3) and Stetson (3).
Southern Intercollegiate Rowing Association Regatta
Melton Lake – Oak Ridge, TN
The varsity women’s eight led from start to finish in claiming its biggest win in program history with a gold medal performance at the Southern Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championship.
Also claiming medals were the men’s varsity fours (bronze) and women’s novice eight (bronze).
Miami (6:46.7) outlasted second-place Clemson (6:50.1) by four seconds in the varsity eight, followed by Texas (6:50.6) and Purdue (6:51.1).
Overall, the UM women finished in second-place in the team point standings with 23, behind Central Florida (25). The Hurricanes placed ahead of notable programs Purdue (19), host-school Tennessee (13), Clemson (7), Georgia Tech (6) and Florida (6).
The UM men’s varsity four (7:00.3) won the bronze medal, finishing behind first-place Rollins (6:54.5) and Clemson (6:57.4).
The UM women’s novice eight grabbed the bronze medal with a time of 7:15.4, behind Clemson (7:02.0) and Texas (7:10.7).
The Georgetown Invitational Rowing Regatta for BIG EAST Schools
Potomac River – Washington D.C.
The men’s and women’s crew, highlighted by bronze medal finishes in the men’s varsity fours and women’s varsity eight, placed among the top three in five of the nine races it entered at the “BIG EAST” championships.
The women’s varsity eight finished behind Syracuse (6:21.97) and Georgetown (6:24.45) with a time of 6:30.56. The bronze medal finish continued the varsity eight streak of top three finishes in each of the seven races it entered this year.
The men’s varsity fours also placed third behind top-seeded Georgetown (6:28.46) and Syracuse (6:29.20) with a time of 6:38.04.
Other UM top finishes came in the men’s freshmen petite eight (1st, 6:26.34), men’s varsity lightweight fours (3rd, 6:51.99) and the women’s novice fours (2nd, 8:15.18).
Georgetown won the overall point trophy, followed by Syracuse. The Miami men and women placed fifth overall.
1999 Lexus Central Sprints
Melton Lake – Oak Ridge, TN
In the seasons next to last regatta, Miami finished 10th overall at the Lexus Sprints. Highlighting the two-day event for the Hurricanes were first-place finishes in the Petite Final of the varsity eight and four races.
All three UM entries placed fourth in its respective heats during the preliminaries, to advance into the Petite Finals.
In the finals, the varsity fours outdistanced Tennessee (8:33.5) and Kansas State (8:34.3) with a time of 8:24.4.
The varsity eight won its final with a time of 6:53.2, ahead of nearest competitor Clemson (6:56.2). UM’s second varsity eight entry also won its final by five seconds over Tennessee (7:14.4) with a time of 7:09.4.
Intercollegiate Rowing Association National Championship Regatta
Cooper’s River – Camden, NJ
In the two-day event, the varsity and junior varsity eight began strong by recording the fastest times of the day in their respective races to qualify for the Grand Final.
UM’s varsity eight jumped out early in the second heat and kept a boat-length’s lead on the rest of the field to finish first with a time of 6:41.20. The Hurricanes outdistanced George Washington (6:44.1), William & Mary, Purdue and George Mason.
The JV eight outdistanced UMass-Amherst for first place in Heat 2 with a time of 6:52.0 to UMass’ 6:53.9.
In the Grand Final the varsity eight placed behind Kansas in claiming the Silver Medal. Miami completed the 2,000-meter course with a time of 6:41.5 to the Jayhawks’ 6:36.8. Finishing in third was Colgate (6:44.3), followed by Temple, New Hampshire and Drexel.
UM’s junior varsity eight placed sixth in its Grand Final with a time of 7:13.6. Yale won the JV eight race with a time of 6:37.9, followed by Fordham and Central Florida.
