Women's Crew Earns Preseason Ranking

Feb. 16, 2000

Coral Gables, FL – The University of Miami varsity women’s eight will begin the 2000 sprint season like no other in its three-year history, with a national ranking. After three years of dominating regattas in the South region, the UM varsity women’s eight checks in at No. 19 in the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association/USRowing National Collegiate Coaches Poll.

Additionally, the men’s varsity eight received two votes in the preseason poll, which places them tied for 28th.

The varsity women eight consists of coxswain Jenny Lee and rowers Marijka VanderPol, Britta Chambers, Marleen Meijeringh, Amanda Turner, Cathy Dunnet, Elizabeth Payer, Megan McGrath and Michele McVeagh.

“In each of the past three seasons our women’s varsity eight has progressed even further, resulting in this national ranking heading into 2000,” said Head Coach Joe O’Connor. “In our first full scholarship season we won the majority of varsity eight events in the state, including the FIRA (state championships). Our second season was more of the same, but we also won the SIRA (south region championships). Last season, we swept all of those events, plus the Head of the Chattahoochee. That regatta, plus our best finish at the Head of the Charles, really gave us a lot of confidence that we could race nearly any crew competitively.”

Of the top 20 women’s varsity eights ranked in the preseason poll, the Hurricanes schedule features races against 10 of these schools. Among these races are head-to-head events with No. 10 Boston Univ. and No. 20 Syracuse on April 1 in Boston, MA. Two weeks later, UM will travel to Princeton, NJ to race against No. 7 Princeton, No. 11 Radcliffe and No. 15 Cornell.

Miami begins its 2000 sprint schedule with the President’s Cup Regatta in Tampa, FL on Saturday, March 11. UM’s first home event of the season will take place Saturday, March 18 against Central Florida on Indian Creek in Miami Beach.