May 8, 2004

PHILADELPHIA - Tar Heel boats took two top-five finishes Saturday as the North Carolina rowing team wrapped up competition in the Dad Vail Regatta, the nation's largest collegiate regatta. Racing on the Schuylkill River, the UNC novice eight finished third overall in a field of 30 while the varsity four was fifth of 44 boats. The other Carolina boats competing, the varsity eight and novice four, both reached the semifinals but did not advance to the finals.

"Overall, it was a very good day for UNC," said UNC coach Sarah Haney. "It was awesome to see how well we did with the youth we have."

The varsity four lineup was made up of sophomore coxswain Lauren Portnow, freshmen Miranda Harple, Adriann Spinks and Becci Foster, and junior Emily Glunz, who is in her first year of rowing. "I was very excited about what they put together for the races, how they moved together and how they worked really hard together," Haney said. "I was really excited about their finish and about what they can do for Carolina rowing."

Racing in the novice eight were coxswain Lauren Withycombe, Anna Fabiszewski, Mary Casale, Ashley Williamson, Cleo Washington, Christin Cotten, Sara Bentley, Catherine Nitz and Keegan Drenosky. "I'm very, very proud of the novice eight and their accomplishments," said UNC novice coach Laura Fogt. "They had great races Friday afternoon and Saturday morning to put themselves in a good position for the Saturday afternoon final. The whole season, we've been talking about putting the pieces together and racing the entire way down the course. They definitely put together three good races this weekend and it was great to see them with medals around their necks."

The varsity eight lineup for the weekend's racing was Terry McCloskey (coxswain), Julie Domina, Sarah Stargel, Clara Leigh, Jen Cox. Jess Ziebell, Emily Dondero, Mary Miller and Amanda Snow.

Racing in the novice four were Regina Elwell (coxswain), Beth Robinson, Laura Rock, Alexis Ziavras and Mallory Williams.

Next up for the Tar Heels is NCAA Centrals May 15-16 in Oak Ridge, Tenn.

Saturday's Results:

Novice four semifinals: 1. Vermont 7:38.6; 2. Tennessee-Chattanooga 7:39.4; 3. UNC 7:41.4; 4. Lawrence 7:48.6; 5. Robert Morris 7:49.5

Novice eight semifinal: 1. UNC 6:53.2; 2. Tulsa 6:55.2; 3. America 6:58.5; 4. Middlebury 7:01.7; 5. Stony Brook 7:11.9

Varsity four semifinal: 1. Dowling 7:19.5; 2. UNC 7:26.2; 3. Brandeis 7:41.2; 4. Wichita State 7:42.2; 5. Franklin Pierce 7:48.7; 6. Kansas 8:06.7

Varsity eight semifinal: 1. Villanova 6:46.3; 2. Cal-Davis 6:49.7; 3. Creighton 6:56.9; 4. Loyola 6:57.7; 5. UNC 6:59.7; 6. Georgia 7:09.7

Novice eight final: 1. Purdue 6:45.92; 2. St. Joseph's 6:54.45; 3. UNC 6:58.11; 4. Tulsa 7:02.52; 5. Villanova 7:02.75; 6. Creighton 7:08.93

Varsity four final: 1. Dowling 7:29.25; 2. Bowdoin 7:34.54; 3. Grand Valley 7:38.25; 4. Vermont 7:44.2; 5. UNC 7:47.84; 6. Middlebury 7:48.1

Friday's Results

For complete race results, go to www.dadvail.org