Nov. 4, 2000

GAINESVILLE, Ga.-The University of North Carolina rowing team triumphed over fatigue and bad weather Saturday at the Head of the Chattahoochee regatta to turn in its best results of the fall season. A day of strong racing by the Tar Heels was highlighted by the varsity eight's second-place finish in the championship eight event, the premier race of the day. "It was without question the best performance we've had this season," UNC coach Joel Furtek said. "They were on fire, rowing with power and fury that we've only seen in practice. It was wonderful."

A long day on Lake Lanier began at 10:30 a.m. with the club eight event, in which UNC's second varsity eight boat finished fourth overall in a time of 18:01.5. Tennessee won the race in 17:22. "It was a good result for us," Furtek said. "We went out and had a great row after a bad practice yesterday." Racing in the UNC boat were Lindsay Pichaske, Joanne Badr, Jenny Morris, Kara Kerscher, Kimberlee Dilda, Allison Wheaton, Meredith Krull and Rachel Daniels, with Staci Shaut at coxswain.

Next up was the championship four, for which UNC's varsity eight split into two boats. Despite racing for the first time with those lineups, Carolina finished fifth in 19:13.4 and sixth in 19:16. Duke won the race in a time of 18:31.6.

In the club four event, the second varsity eight split up to race for the second time in three hours. One UNC four encountered problems and finished 24th in 21:53, but the other came in third with a time of 19:51.1. Tennessee won the race with a time of 19:06.9. Coxswains in the boats were Sarah Ketchie and Erin Harkins.

In the day's final race, the championship eight, Carolina's varsity eight athletes competed for the second time, while the second varsity eight hit the water for the third time. The Tar Heels had more than fatigue working against them, however. In the varsity eight, senior All-ACC rower Dana Peirce was racing with two broken fingers, while sophomore Molly Benner was back in the boat after having been too sick with bronchitis to practice on Friday.

Like the rest of the crews in Gainesville (a total of 897 boats were entered in the event), the Tar Heels also had to battle rainy, chilly weather. "We just said, `This is one more challenge we need to overcome and we'll handle it the way we do challenges on the lake,'" Furtek said.

His rowers followed that direction and the varsity eight came up with the season's best result, a second-place time of 16:59.2. Texas won in 16:43.7. UNC came in ahead of ACC foes Clemson (16:59.6) and Duke (17:17.2), the latter of which had beaten the Tar Heels twice this season. In the Carolina varsity eight lineup were Lauren Yoder, Laura Fogt, Benner, Lindsey Hawks, Peirce, Layne Carey, Jeanette Crets, Erin Neppel and coxswain Robin Yamakawa. (Kelley Gates was the second coxswain for the championship fours event.)

The second varsity eight put in a strong performance of its own, finishing 13th overall with a time if 18:15.4, trailing just two other "B" boats. "Both boats put in great performances today," Furtek said. "The athletes gave it all they had and the results are a strong indicator that we're back on track."

UNC will be back on the water early Sunday morning, with the varsity eight racing at 9 and the second varsity eight splitting into fours to race at 9:30.