March 25, 2006

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- The North Carolina rowing team opened its spring season Saturday, hosting Georgetown for a chilly morning of racing at Lake Wheeler in Raleigh. Hoya boats took first in all four races. In the varsity eights race, Georgetown's winning time was 6:56.69, followed by UNC's varsity eight in 7:04.87 and the Carolina second varsity eight in 7:21.30.

The lineup for the UNC varsity eight was Lauren Portnow (coxswain), Gretchen Klatte, Laura Chase McGehee, Maegan Wareham, Lisy McIntee, Laura Rock, Adriann Spinks, Emily Dondero and Lucy Barrios.

The Tar Heel second varsity eight was made up of Edythe McNamee (coxswain), Sarah Low, Cleo Washington, Christin Cotten, Mary Ford, Eugenia Delbono, Megan Mitzel, Chelsea Barth and Emily Williams.

"Actually, we thought the varsity eight had a really good race, we were just very disappointed in the finish," UNC coach Sarah Haney said. "We were really surprised that the race we put out put us in second. That's a credit to Georgetown - Georgetown had a really good race.

"For the second varsity eight, the race was pretty consistent with what we've been doing in practice, so we feel pretty good. They're young, mostly freshmen in that boat, so we've got a lot of potential we can tap into there."

Next up was the novice eights race, with Georgetown finishing in 7:25.63, UNC's first novice eight second in 7:39.64 and Carolina's second novice eight third in 8:09.43.

The lineup for Carolina's first novice eight was Melinda Bowman (coxswain), Maeghan Sill, Autumn Carroll, Kayla Hackett, Chandler Sours, Meredith Brown, Katie Wood, Samantha Cabrera and Eleanor Saunders. For the second novice eight, it was Shannon Wilson (coxswain), Cari Gleisner, Kathryn Winz, Heather Wensil, Sheena Hill, Elizabeth Marx, Rebecca Aubry, Jasmine Miller and Hilary Compton.

Georgetown took the varsity fours race in a time of 7:58.45, with UNC finishing in 8:51.40. The Tar Heel lineup was McNamee (coxswain), Chelsea Barth, Lisette Yorke, Ruby Woodside and Lauren Reid.

"We put the varsity four in a tough spot racing against people that are more experienced than they are," Haney said. "Georgetown didn't have a second varsity eight, so their ninth, 10th, 11th and 12th rowers were in the varsity four against mostly freshmen in our boat. We've just got to get them on the water more."

In the novice fours race, Georgetown finished in 8:18.24, with the UNC first novice four in 8:35.86 and the second novice four third in 9:02.17. Carolina first four was Sara Uribe (coxswain), Gleisner, Wood, Brown and Saunders. The second four was Emma Garcia (coxswain), Sill, Carroll, Hackett and Sours.

UNC returns to action Saturday, traveling to Clemson to take on Central Florida and the host Tigers.

Georgetown at North Carolina
Raleigh, N.C. (Lake Wheeler)
Conditions: Chilly, with a slight tailwind throughout the course

Varsity eight: 1. Georgetown V8, 6:56.69; 2. UNC V8, 7:04.87; 3. UNC 2V8, 7:21.30

Novice eight: 1. Georgetown N8, 7:25.63; 2. UNC N8, 7:39.64; 3. UNC 2N8, 8:09.43

Varsity four: 1. Georgetown 7:58.45; 2. UNC 8:51.40

Novice four: 1. Georgetown N4 8:18.24; 2. UNC N4 8:35.86; 3. UNC 2N4 9:02.17