Nov. 7, 1999

GAINESVILLE, Ga.–The Carolina women's rowing team turned in a solid weekend of racing on Lake Lanier Saturday and Sunday, returning home with several wins and plenty of good experience.

In Saturday's Head of the Chattahoochee, in which each UNC athlete raced three times, the Tar Heels earned a win in the varsity pairs. In Sunday's Chattahoochee Chase, in which each UNC athlete raced only once, the Tar Heels again claimed the varsity pairs race and also added a win in the varsity eight. In the eight, the premier race of the day, UNC finished 16 seconds ahead of Clemson and also defeated boats from Central Florida, Tennessee and Texas.

"Sunday was a good day of rowing after the challenging day we had on Saturday," UNC coach Joel Furtek said. "This weekend, we got in a lot of good hard work and good miles and also got a couple of victories to make us feel good about our ultimate speed. We look forward to finishing up the fall season in Charlottesville next weekend."

In Sunday's Rivanna Romp, on the Rivanna Reservoir in Charlottesville, Va., the Tar Heels will compete against Clemson, Duke, Georgetown, Ohio State, Virginia and Texas.

The Tar Heels can only hope the trip to Virginia is less eventful than the drive down to Georgia. On Friday, en route to the competition, the team's 12 boats were stranded in Gastonia, N.C., when the clutch went out on the truck towing the trailer. Carolina alum Marty Hancock (Class of 1979), of Gastonia's Sonny Hancock Automotive Group, came to the rescue and and got assistant coach Jody Wilhelm back on the road quickly enough that the boats still reached Gainesville by Friday night.