May 13, 2000

OAK RIDGE, Tenn.-The racing was almost as hot as the weather Saturday on Lake Melton as the University of North Carolina rowing team competed in the NCAA Central Region Sprint Championships. UNC's varsity eight fared the best of the team's three boats, finishing third in the afternoon semifinals to advance on to Sunday's grand final for first through sixth places.

After placing third in the morning's heats, the Tar Heels took part in a thrilling race during the afternoon semifinals. The top three finishers would advance on to the grand final on Sunday, and Michigan quickly showed it would be one of those, pulling out to an early lead. That left the rest of the crews to battle for the other two spots, and battle they did. After racing four boats across for a time, Miami finally fell back and Texas made a strong 20-stroke move at the 1,000-meter mark to pull up by about six seats. That left Carolina and Notre Dame fighting for third, seat-for-seat and stroke-for-stroke. UNC rowed two to three beats lower than Notre Dame throughout race, understroking and out-pulling the Irish. By the finish, Carolina had worked its way to a two-seat lead to claim a hard-earned third place. Michigan led the way in 6:32.5, with Texas second at 6:39. 2. Carolina's time was 6:43.0, just ahead of Notre Dame's 6:44.1. Clemson finished in 6:48.5 and Miami was sixth in 6:50.5.

Meanwhile, both the second varsity eight and the varsity four will compete in the petite finals on Sunday, for seventh place and lower. UNC's second varsity eight finished fifth in its semifinal-behind Ohio State, Iowa, Miami and Notre Dame-with a time of 7:09.8.

The varsity four, made up freshman rowers and a freshman coxswain, finished third in its afternoon repechage. "They raced their hearts out," UNC coach Joel Furtek said. "They stayed in contact with Michigan State and Ohio State, two very strong fours, all the way down the course." Michigan State won the race in a time of 7:12.7 and Ohio State followed at 7:17. 3. A little more than a length back was UNC, which beat out Notre Dame and Tennessee with a time of 7:23.9. "They were not excited to come in third and miss the grand final, but they did some really good racing," Furtek said. "I'm proud of the way they pushed some seasoned fours."

The varsity four will be the first Tar Heel boat to compete on Sunday, racing at 9:20 a.m. in the petite final. The second varsity eight will compete in its petite final at 10:20 a.m. The UNC varsity eight will race in its grand finale at 10:50 a.m.

"All in all, it was a good day of racing for us," Furtek said. "The varsity eight is feeling especially good after beating crews like Tulsa and Clemson that had come out ahead of us earlier in the season. We're improving and getting faster as the season progresses.

"The heat definitely has been a factor for us out here, but our training staff has done an outstanding job of keeping our athletes hydrated. Everyone is tired from a long day in the sun, but we're all excited for tomorrow's racing."