Nov. 11, 2009

The North Carolina rowing team wrapped up the fall portion of its schedule with weekend of racing Nov. 7-8 at the Head of the Chattahoochee regatta in Chattanooga, Tenn. The Tar Heels sent two eights and three fours down the Tennessee River course in a head racing format, in which each boat starts at a different time.

In the official results, UNC's varsity eight placed 25th in a time of 15:27.0 and the second varsity eight was 27th in 15:40.8. The fours were 23rd (17:01.4), 30th (17:22.2) and 31st (17:24.6). The staggered starts of a head race make it impossible to judge during the race how each boat is faring, and UNC coach Sarah Haney was surprised when she saw the results.

"We believe there were some timing irregularities," Haney said. "The times and placements are significantly different from the way we felt like we were racing. We've always been in the top 10 there, except for one year we had a penalty. To go from ninth last year to 25th this year ... well, we're young, but I don't think the difference would be that much."

Haney questioned the official results, but there is no way to confirm times after the fact, and the results will stand as they are. For Haney and the Tar Heels, that means looking beyond the weekend's times and finishes to focus on the way the team performed on the water this fall.

"We're disappointed in the way the fall racing ended, but we've made a lot of progress over the last two months and I'm pleased about that," Haney said. "We are a really young team and I feel like we're just going to continue to get faster as we put in the work."

The Tar Heels picked up a bit more experience on Sunday, racing four pairs and finishing 17th, 18th, 23rd and 26th . "The pairs are just for fun," Haney said. "The girls had a blast racing in them."

The team is on the water for one more week, then moves inside for winter training until January.

UNC lineups, Head of the Chattahoochee

Varsity eight: Jennifer Nowicki (coxswain), Kelsey Grich, Megan McMullin, Kathleen Reynolds, JoAnne Rogers, Andi Drabot, Alex McClelland, Sarah Day, Brittany Walsh
Second varsity eight: Sarah Cook (coxswain), Kristi Roblin, Audrey Whitmeyer-Weathers, Blair Meiggs, Lindsay Paterniti, Toni Moran, Alya Elsayed-Ali, Leah Kosow, Shelby Austin
Varsity four: Emma Shaw (coxswain), Kelsey Grich, JoAnne Rogers, Andi Drabot, Megan McMullin
Second varsity four: Sarah Cook (coxswain), Alex McClelland, Kathleen Reynolds, Brittany Walsh, Lindsay Paterniti
Third varsity four: Jennifer Nowicki (coxswain), Audrey Whitmeyer-Weathers, Blair Meiggs, Sarah Day, Toni Moran
Pairs: Kelsey Grich, Megan McMullin; Lindsay Paterniti, Kristi Roblin; Kathleen Reynolds, Alex McClelland; Andi Drabot, Blair Meiggs