March 16, 2001

MIAMI BEACH, Fla.-The novice squad remained undefeated and the varsity squad continued to show improvement Friday as the University of North Carolina women's rowing team competed against Central Florida, Miami, Navy and Syracuse on Indian Creek. The racing came at the end of a week of spring training in Florida for the UNC team.

"Today's racing was a good way to cap off a week of very hard training," Carolina coach Joel Furtek said. "To row as well as we did today is a good indication of the progress we've made this week."

The Tar Heels will get in one more practice session on Saturday morning then enjoy the afternoon in Miami before heading back to Chapel Hill Saturday night.

In Friday's action, the novice four rowed to an open-water win over Syracuse and Miami in a time of 8:16.22 in the morning session.

The novice eight won both its races with room to spare, against Navy and Miami in the morning with a time of 6:54.01, and Central Florida in the afternoon with a time of 7:00.00.

The second varsity eight got off to a slow start in the morning race and finished third, behind Navy and Miami. UNC rallied in the afternoon to beat Central Florida in a time of 6:57.00.

The varsity eight finished second to Miami in the morning session and beat Central Florida in the afternoon with a time of 6:29.06.

"We continue to be proud of the performances of the novices," Furtek said. "They've stepped out strong in all their races and just kept going. They've beaten some very capable crews. We're also proud of the way the varsity crews bounced back from the morning and rowed well this afternoon."

Novice 4
Morning: UNC-8:16.22, Syracuse-8:30.55, Miami-8:40.70

Novice 8
Morning: UNC-6:54.01, Navy-7:13.11, Miami-7:26.19
Afternoon: UNC 7:00.00, UCF-7:26.72

Second Varsity 8
Morning: Navy-6:50.00, Miami-6:59.91, UNC-7:06.68
Afternoon: UNC-6:57.00, UCF-7:06.20

Varsity 8
Morning: Miami-6:41.00, UNC-6:44.75, Navy-6:56.50
Afternoon: UNC-6:29.06, UCF-6:32.22