March 10, 2002

Lauren Yoder is a junior from Charlotte and a member of the UNC rowing team. Throughout the year, she will update TarHeelBlue.com readers about the latest team news, and share the experience of being a varsity athlete at North Carolina.

Before getting lost in the excitement and action of traveling to Florida for spring training, I want to share some great things that have been going on this week with the team. It has been a big week for us all in many respects.

Monday was a very exciting day. The practice was our chance to meet standards that Joel had set for going to the San Diego Crew Classic in California. At 5:30 a.m. we met in Carmichael Auditorium. We hauled the ergometers (rowing machines, often called ergs) up from the erg room to the gym floor. For the 2,000-meter test we were to take, we set them up in boat form on slides. Slides are contraptions that allow the ergs to swing back and forth, simulating the feeling of being in a boat. If one rower's stroke is off, the whole boat is affected. Joel connected them to a computer program which allowed us to project a pace boat on the wall in front of us. The pace boat was set for the times that we were to make in order to travel.

We warmed up as a team. Then, the second varsity eight sat down to test. Everyone in the room grew more and more excited as it became apparent by the small moving boat on the wall that not only would they attain the goal, but would surpass it greatly. They finished strongly and, having done their job, began giving encouragement for the first varsity eight to do the same.

The first varsity warmed up and then sat to test. In a steady and strong effort, they worked through the test and finished ahead of the standard! The gym exploded with cheers as everyone realized the implications of the morning's results. After a long stretch of testing and pushing ourselves, we had earned the chance to compete in California - a real treat!

Congratulations to Jess Zeibell for turning in a particularly phenomenal performance on her test - a personal best of seven minutes flat. Also, Layne Carey and Jeanette Crets tested particularly well, taking significant times off of their personal bests. Novice Leah Dickerson also tested with the varsity and took seven seconds off of her personal record to turn in a time of 7:17. Nice job!!!

Any tiredness that we might have felt from being up so early and working so hard was overshadowed all day on Monday with the elation of what we had achieved. We're all very excited about the trip and the chance to compete - and having earned it.

Another big thing this week for us has been a change in our practice schedule. We have begun morning practice in order to avoid conflicting class schedules and to have full boat line-ups for the most practice time possible. I

f you've ever been out on the water at 5:30 a.m. in early March, you know its COLD! We find frost on our clothes, ice chunks in our water bottles, and, while taking the boat from the water to the boathouse (a distance of about 25 yards) I've seen the process of water turning from liquid to solid on the hull. That's cold!

All of this said, though, you won't hear me complaining. Nor have I heard any gripes or grumbles from my teammates. Everyone has a great attitude about it and we know what we need to do in order to achieve what we'd like to this season.

Now we're off to Florida! This weekend we board the bus and head south to Tampa for spring training. I will continue to update you with our travels throughout the week.

Your Tar Heel Pal,

Yoder