FELLSMERE, Fla. — The University of Miami rowing program opened its spring season on Saturday at the Governor’s Cup.
The Governor’s Cup was Miami’s first official racing action of the spring and the Hurricanes opened the season with a strong showing, racing against Columbia, Florida Tech and Barry University at Canal 54 in Fellsmere, Fla.
“The first varsity boat led the day with a strong row against Columbia,” Miami head coach Dave Sanderson said. “They executed their race plan well and came away with the win. Overall, it was a positive day of racing for the full squad with some good lessons learned. We will be back on the water training for more boat speed first thing Monday as we prepare for San Diego.”
Miami had four boats scheduled to compete at the Governor’s Cup: the 1V8+, 2 V8+, 1 V4+ and 2V4+. The 1V8+ was the first boat on the water and it started off Miami’s day with a victory over Columbia. The Canes posted a time of 6:45.73, beating the Lions by 4.48 seconds. The top varsity 8 boat also beat Florida Tech in its head-to-head race, posting a time of 6:45.78 that was over 24 seconds faster than the host Panthers.
The Canes’ 2V8+ had two races on the day, beating Florida Tech by 28.12 seconds with a time of 7:11.90 and finishing just behind Columbia with a time of 7:04.06. Miami’s 2V8+ also posted a time of 7:04.06 in a head-to-head race with Columbia.
Miami also had two varsity 4 boats compete on Saturday. The 1V4+ finished second in its opening race with a time of 8:08.74 and placed third in its second race with a time of 8:16.75. The 2V4+ finished second to Columbia with a time of 8:14.61, beating Barry University by over 10 seconds. They also posted a time of 8:19.19 in a head-to-head race against Columbia.
In addition to this weekend’s season opener, the Hurricanes will travel to California in early April to compete at the San Diego Crew Classic on April 2-3. Miami will also travel to Mercer County, N.J., to compete in the Knecht Cup on April 9-10.
The Canes will host UCF on April 23 in the lone home event of the 2016 season. In addition to racing against the Knights, Miami seniors Sarah Aschebrock, Caitlin Lowe, Hannah Nielsen, Joletta Silva, Caitlin White-Parsons, Alison Whitty and Gigi Williamson will race on their home course for the final time.
The Hurricanes will close out the 2016 spring season at the ACC Championships on May 13-14 in Clemson, S.C.
Miami Lineups
1V8+: Lily Wittle (cox), Caitlin Lowe, Taegan Lynch, Alison Whitty, Sarah Aschebrock, Gigi Williamson, Jane Moore, Alex Gunner, Caitlin White-Parsons
2V8+: Nicole Rotkovitz (cox), Taylor Richard, Bridget Boland, Caroline Shaw, Catharine Tayler, Hannah Nielsen, Elise Wiley, Alexa Aguilar, Katie Robinson
1V4+: Ariannie Peña-Aleman (cox), Virginia Sideleva, Alyssa Basdavanos, Alexandra Ware, Jenna Shorten
2V4+: Leah Ring (cox), Lauren Wilson, Kristen Bufkin, Violet Sullivan, Joletta Silva
For official updates and information please visit our website at HurricaneSports.com or “Like” us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/canesrowing. You can also “Follow” Miami rowing on Twitter at http://twitter.com/canesrowing. The program is also on Instagram.