|
UNC Rowing Opens Spring Training With Racing In Tampa
March 11, 2001
The University of North Carolina rowing team began what it expects to be a productive week of work with a full day of racing Saturday in Tampa, Fla. In the President's Cup Regatta on the Hillsborough River, the novice eight and varsity pair led the way for UNC. Carolina's novice eight, in just its second collegiate race, rowed to an open-water win against Barry, Yale, Florida and Central Florida in a very strong showing. In the varsity pairs race, senior Kimberlee Dilda and junior Layne Carey, both of whom also raced in the varsity eight on Saturday, led the field throughout and cruised to an open-water win. UNC picked up second-place finishes in the second varsity eight, the varsity four and the novice four. In the second varsity eight race, UNC held the lead at the halfway point. "They didn't necessarily slow down, but the other crews took a little more into the final 500 meters of the race," UNC coach Joel Furtek said. In the varsity four race, two of the Tar Heels' four boats advanced to the final, with another missing a berth by a tenth of a second. In the final, the UNC boat coxed by Robin Yamakawa and rowed by Erin Neppel, Dana Peirce, Laura Fogt and Jeanette Crets led halfway through the race, but fell prey to a late run by Miami, which took first, and the other UNC boat, which took second. Kelley Gates was the coxswain for the second-place Tar Heel boat, which was rowed by sophomores Allison Wheaton, Molly Benner, Kara Kerscher and Lauren Yoder.
In the novice four race, Carolina was ahead going into the final 500 meters but fell back to finish second. In the varsity eight, the first race of the day, UNC finished fourth in its heat. The Tar Heels led Miami halfway through the race, but saw the Hurricanes sprint past to claim third. "We're still working our way into the race plan so we did not have an answer for them," Furtek said. "The finish is very disappointing because we were rowing very strong, running with Yale and Michigan State through the first half of the race, and we let our attention slip long enough for the Miami crew to work through us." Carolina followed up its day of racing with a 12-mile workout Sunday morning back out on the Hillsborough River, then the Tar Heels enjoyed an afternoon off to see the sights. They'll return to two-a-day workouts Monday and will race again on Friday in Miami against Navy, Central Florida and Miami. "We got in a lot of good racing in the sun here on Saturday, and that will help us as we build into our season," Furtek said. "Last week's races were 1,000 meters and this week's were 1,500. "We missed some time on the water at home last week because of bad weather, and we're working on making up for lost time in terms of race tactics and our ability to finish races. But we are rowing well and I believe that by the end of the week with our two-a-days down here, we'll be able to put all the pieces in place."
RESULTS
Team results: Yale 242, Central Florida 154, Miami 84, North Carolina 80, Jacksonville 45, Tampa 44, Florida 43.1, University of Tennessee Chattanooga 42.8, Michigan State 33, Florida Tech 25, Barry 21, Syracuse 18, Lynn 0, and South Florida 0 |
 |
