Nov. 6, 2005

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - In the North Carolina rowing team's stiffest competition of the fall season, the Tar Heels took firsts in three events and placed five of eight boats in the top 10 of their respective races Saturday at the Head of the Chattahoochee Regatta. UNC boats took first, sixth and 14th in the championship four, won the novice eight and novice four, finished ninth in a strong varsity eight field and took fifth and 25th in the collegiate/club eight.

"We feel really good about the day," UNC coach Sarah Haney said. "We showed a lot of depth in a lot of areas, on the novice level and the varsity level."

Winning the championship four event in a time of 19:02.7 was the UNC varsity four made up of coxswain Regina Elwell, Gretchen Klatte, Laura Chase McGehee, Emily Dondero and Lucy Barrios. Duke took second (19:14.9) followed by Miami (19:23.5), Kansas (19:25.2) and SMU (19:31.6).

In UNC's sixth-place boat with a time of 19:38.9 were coxswain Lauren Portnow, Christin Cotton, Lisy McIntee, Maegan Wareham and Adriann Spinks. Carolina's third boat in that event finished 14th in 20:33.4. That lineup was coxswain Tiffany Pierce, Sarah Low, Megan Mitzel, Laura Rock and Reine Duffy.

The Tar Heel varsity eight finished ninth of 24 boats with a time of 16:57.8. Tennessee's A boat was first in 16:06.1, followed by Duke (16:28.2), Tennessee B (16:31.6), Central Florida (16:32.5) and Miami A (16:34.5). UNC's lineup was Lauren Portnow (coxswain), Gretchen Klatte, Laura Chase McGehee, Maegan Wareham, Lisy McIntee, Christin Cotton, Adriann Spinks, Emily Dondero and Lucy Barrios.

The novice eight finished its race in 19:34.8 to take first in a two-boat field. UT Chattanooga was second in 20:29.0. Racing in the UNC boat were Shannon Wilson (coxswain), Chelsea Barth (stroke), Mary Ford, Lauren Reid, Rebecca Aubry, Molly McDonough, Heather Wensil, Eleanor Saunders and Katie Wood.

Novice eight boats also raced in the collegiate/club 8 event, finishing fifth and 25th in a field of 30. The lineup for UNC's fifth-place boat was Melinda Bowman (coxswain), Ruby Woodside, Chandler Sours, Eugenia Delbono, Layne Johnson, Jenny Burrus, Mary Sasson, Emily Williams and Lisette Yorke with a time of 19:18.6.

The second Carolina boat finished in 21:50.7 with a lineup of Sara Uribe (coxswain), Claire Davis (stroke), Kristin Hill, Kayla Hackett, Maeghan Sill, Sheena Hill, Ece Okar, Kathryn Winz and Autumn Carroll.

The Tar Heels won the freshman/novice 4 in a time of 22:17.3, ahead of NC State and two boats from Berry. Carolina's lineup was Sara Uribe (coxswain), Chelsea Barth (stroke), Mary Ford, Ruby Woodside, and Lauren Reid.

Also racing were several members of the coaching staff. Novice coach Stephen Arthur-Wong took second in the men's masters eight race with the Florida Athletic Club. And former UNC rower Michelle Hall, now the team's undergraduate assistant coach, took third in a singles race on Sunday.

For complete regatta results, go to www.headofthehooch.org.

Carolina is back in action next Sunday, Nov. 13, at the Rivanna Romp in Charlottesville, Va.