Women's Rowing Has Success On Both Coasts
April 8, 2002
Coral Gables, Fla. (www.hurricanesports.com) — – This past weekend, the University of Miami women’s rowing team split up to compete in two separate events, the San Diego Crew Classic on the west coast, and the FIRA State Championships in Tampa.
The Hurricane Varsity Women’s eight, consisting of Jenny Lee (coxswain), Jenny Krawec, Jacqui Julien, Marijka Vander Pol, Monika Manios, Alli Nelson, Ananda Chou and Mandy Turner, competed in the San Diego Crew Classic, placing 12th in the prestigious invitational Jessup Whittier Cup.
It was an excellent experience for the Hurricane women, as they raced side by side with the nation’s fastest crews. In the event’s petite final, the University of Miami women finished in fifth place with a time of 6:57.49, ahead of the US Naval Academy (7:06.43) and Tulsa (7:11.73). The University of Southern California finished first in a time of 6:45.96, followed by Oregon State University (6:49.62), Texas (6:53.52) and Clemson University (6:53.87).
Meanwhile, on the east coast, the remaining team members competed in the FIRA State Championships. The Hurricanes had the extra challenge of rowing ‘up’ a category, as the Second Varsity Eight represented the University of Miami in the women’s Varsity Eight event. The varsity eight featured Meg Venezia (coxswain), Julie Crane, Yassi Hairinia, Katie Weeden, Caroline Stuart, Maggie Knuth, Jordanna Heywood, Sara Grossman and Yennisha Pino. The second varsity eight included April Runkle, Tyler Merrill, Melissa Saunders, Rachel Sander, Trisha Blackwell, Liz Miller, Deirdre Curran, Laraine Martin and Dorothy Clay.
The two varsity eights, one on the west coast and one on the east coast, raced 10 minutes apart on Saturday morning. The Hurricanes in San Diego essentially ‘passed the baton’ to the crew racing in Tampa. This extra energy pushed the crew in Tampa to a remarkable performance. Two weeks prior, the Hurricanes were defeated by the University of Central Florida crew by 9.1 seconds.
“The crew that represented the University of Miami this weekend brought special focus and determination to training over the past two weeks, enough to put them largely in control of the race today,” said Assistant Varsity Coach Cinda Ewton.
The Hurricane Women’s Varsity Eight was edged out in a narrow finish by the Varsity Eight from the University of Central Florida. Meg led her crew to within 0.5 seconds of winning the state championship.
“Regardless of the outcome, it was an amazing race for our crew. The girls were disappointed in the color of the medal at the end, but all knew they had brought their racing to a new level. I am greatly looking forward to the remainder of the season. We will certainly be seeing something special from these women.”
The day was additionally highlighted by a win by the junior varsity four. Again, this crew was challenged with the added pressure of rowing up an event. They are usual representatives of the University of Miami in the third varsity four event. The crew gained immediate control of the race and won going away in a time of 8:02.1, nine seconds ahead of the next crew from the University of Central Florida (8:11.7). The Hurricanes captured an additional two silver medals in the women’s Freshman/Novice Eight and Four events.
Ewton remarked, “We had an excellent day. To do so well and come so close in some very tight racing situations without the help of our top crew is an excellent confidence booster to the participating team members.”
The Hurricanes will race again on April 20-21 at the Southern Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
FIRA Complete Results:
W V8+ (from heats)UCF 6:49.9U Miami 6:50.4Stetson University 7:00.9UCF ‘B’ 7:03.4Jacksonville University 7:09.4Rollins College 7:17.5
WJV8+UCF 7:10.7U Miami 7:22.4*Rollins College 7:30.4Barry University 7:49.8*the U Miami crew caught a boat-stopping crab 300m into the race,dropping them from first to fourth. The Hurricanes came back to finish second overall.
WF/N 8+UCF ‘A’ 7:19.2U Miami 7:30.5UCF ‘ C’ 7:40.1UCF’B’ 7:56.8U Florida 9:10.2
WV4+ (from heats)UCF 7:41.5Barry University 7:48.6Rollins College 7:53.4Jacksonville University 7:57.8U Miami 8:03.5Stetson University 8:07.6
WJV4+U Miami 8:02.1UCF 8:11.7Barry University 8:16.6Rollins College 8:27.6Stetson University 8:31.4Florida Institute of Technology 8:50.6
W F/N4+UCF ‘C’ 8:05.4U Miami ‘A’ 8:11.7Florida Institute of Technology 8:14.5U Miami ‘B’ 8:15.4UCF ‘A’ 7:20.1Barry University 8:31.6
