First Varsity Eight Named ACC Crew of the Week
CORAL GABLES, Fla. — Miami’s First Varsity Eight Rowing crew was named the Atlantic Coast Conference Crew of the Week Tuesday, after capturing the Grand Final of the First Varsity Eight race at this past weekend’s prestigious Knecht Cup.
The 2017 Knecht Cup was held on Mercer Lake in West Windsor Township, N.J., the site of this year’s NCAA Rowing Championships.
Miami’s First Varsity Eight, coached by Dave Sanderson, recorded a time of 6:43.84 to defeat Boston University Lightweight (6:45.77), Stanford Lightweight (6:47.36), Massachusetts (6:49.90), Radcliffe Lightweight (6:52.59) and Boston College (6:53.19) to claim the title.
The Hurricanes were undefeated throughout Saturday and Sunday, capturing their heat and semifinal races. Miami’s time of 6:44.90 in the semis was the fastest semifinal time of the day.
Miami’s First Varsity Eight is composed of coxswain Colleen Gillis [Howell, N.J., Fr.], Halle Alitz [Boston, Mass., Fr.], Alex Gunner [Elma, N.Y., Sr.], Tessa White-Parsons [Auckland, New Zealand, Fr.], Taegan Lynch [Vashon, Wash., Jr.], Kristen Klein [Huntington Beach, Calif., Jr.], Jane Moore [Darien, Conn., Jr.], Alexa Aguilar [West Palm Beach, Fla., Jr.], Cristina Salinas [Lima, Peru, Fr.]
“I’m really proud of this crew for how tough they raced this weekend and I am happy to see them get recognized,” Sanderson said. “The entire team had a good regatta and the V8 would be the first to say that it was a full team effort over the weekend that helped support them. I can’t wait to see all of our boats pick up speed as we push forward towards ACCs.”
This is the second time in program history that the Hurricanes earn an ACC Crew of the Week honor, joining the First Varsity Eight on March 19, 2009.
The Hurricanes will next be in action on April 29, facing UCF in Orlando, their final competition before competing for honors at the 18th Annual Atlantic Coast Conference Rowing Championships, which will be held on Sunday, May 14, on Lake Hartwell in Clemson, South Carolina. Preliminaries in the morning begin at 8:05 a.m., followed by the finals in the late afternoon, beginning at 5:30 p.m. The 2017 ACC Rowing Championship finals will be available live on ACCNetwork Extra. For a complete look at Miami’s schedule, click here.
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.
