Hurricanes Sweep Field to Claim Florida State Championship
April 10, 2004
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The University of Miami rowing team took first place in each of the eight events entered to claim the top spot at the 2004 Florida Intercollegiate Rowing Association (FIRA) Championships held Friday and Saturday on the Bypass Canal in Tampa, Fla.
Competing against 12 schools from around the state of Florida, all but one of the Hurricanes’ nine boats finished first in their respective finals, leading Miami to the points championship and the Shirly B. Neggard Trophy. The only UM crew to finish somewhere other than first was a second place finish by the Miami Junior Varsity 4 “B” behind the first place Junior Varsity “A” squad.
“I think our team showed a lot of depth at this regatta,” head coach Debra Morgan said. “It’s one thing to win the varsity 8 and the junior varsity 8 events, but to also be able to win all the way down the line to the novice 8, novice four, and novice “B” four events shows some great depth.”
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“It’s one thing to win the varsity 8 and the junior varsity 8 events, but to also be able to win all the way down the line to the novice 8, novice four, and novice “B” four events shows some great depth.” Head Coach Debra Morgan |
The Hurricanes kicked off the weekend Friday with a win by the Freshman/Novice 4 in the qualifying heats. Miami returned Saturday morning to win the Varsity 8, finishing more than three seconds ahead of 2003 FIRA Champions Central Florida with a time of 6:21.10 followed a win by the UM 2x boat over Florida State.
Next up for Miami was a win by the Junior Varsity 8 who placed ahead of UCF by a little over four seconds with a time of 6:27.50.
The Hurricanes’ Freshman/Novice 8 crew then blew away the competition with a top-placing time of 6:33.70, winning by nearly 17 seconds over second place UCF.
Miami’s win streak continued with Miami’s two Junior Varsity 4 boats finishing first and second and the Freshman/Novice 4 placing 18 seconds ahead of second place Stetson with a mark of 7:29.20.
UM claimed their eighth victory in the final race of the day with the Varsity 4 cruising to a win with a time of 7:11.70.
“I was thrilled to see our team perform so well from top to bottom,” assistant coach Cinda Ewton said. “It seemed as each of our boats were working perfectly together. Last year we were unable to send each of our crews so it was awesome to see such a team effort out there this weekend.”
“We’re looking forward to the second half of the season,” Morgan said. “We’ve got a lot of great athletes that are performing very well.”
The Hurricanes will return to the water with the BIG EAST Challenge April 25 in Worcester, Mass.
| Saturday, April 10 |
Varsity 8 Finals (9:15 a.m.)1.Miami6:21.10 Laura Comeau (cox), Karen Wiley, Jenny Krawec, Jacqui Julien, Sarah Conlon, Ashley Marincsin, Caroline Stuart, Rachel Clausing, Jordanna Heywood 2.Central Florida6:24.90 3.Florida Tech6:40.50 4.Nova Southeastern6:42.70 5.Barry6:43.60 4.Jacksonville6:48.20 Open 2X (9:30 a.m.)1.Miami8:07.50 Bridget Gallagher, Taurii Coyne 2.Florida State8:59.20 Junior Varsity 8 (10 a.m.)1.Miami 6:27.50Jessica Martin (cox), Rachel Sander, Julie Crane, Ananda Chou, Jenny Dunning, Natasha Lejer, Jacqui Heywood, Anna Cohen, Deirdre Curran 2.Central Florida6:31.80 Freshman/Novice 8 (11:45 a.m.)1.Miami6:33.70 Meghan Leydecker (cox), Valerie Webb, Sarah Conlon, Natasha Lejer, Erin Morris, Sarah Stocks, Noelle Van Ee, Karen Wiley, Marenda Chamberlin 2.Central Florida6:50.40 3.Nova Southeastern7:00.70 4.Central Florida (exhib.)7:14.10 5.Florida State7:44.50 6.Florida 7:52.407.Rollins7:08.30 Junior Varsity 4 (12:40 p.m.)1.Miami “A”7:14.10 Hannah Bae (cox), Taurii Coyne, Bridget Gallagher, Laura Coltman, Yassi Haririnia 2.Miami “B”7:34.30 Jessica Martin (cox), Rachel Sander, Jenny Dunning, Ananda Chou, Julie Crane 3.Barry 7:42.904.Rollins7:52.80 5.Florida Tech8:11.90 Freshman/Novice 4 Finals(2 p.m.)1.Miami 7:29.20 Meghan Leydecker (cox), Valerie Webb, Ashley Via, Sarah Stocks, Erin Morris 2.Stetson7:47.10 3.Florida7:53.90 4.Jacksonville7:54.60 5.Embry-Riddle Aeronautical7:58.60 6.Tampa8:26.40 7.Florida State8:31.60 Varsity 4 Finals (3 p.m.)1.Miami 7:11.70 Jenny Krawec, Jacqui Julien, Caroline Stuart, Ashley Marincsin2.Florida Tech7:26.60 3.Central Florida7:30.70 4.Jacksonville7:34.40 5.Stetson7:37.90 6.Rollins7:38.50
