All Three UVa Boats Advance At NCAA Rowing Championships
Virginia's varsity four and second varsity eight crews win their heats.
All three Virginia crews advanced on the first day of the 2005 NCAA Women's Rowing Championships.

All three Virginia crews advanced on the first day of the 2005 NCAA Women's Rowing Championships.

May 27, 2005

RANCHO CORDOVA, Calif. - The University of Virginia women's rowing team advanced all three of its boats on Friday (May 27) during the first day of competition at the 2005 NCAA Women's Rowing Championships on Lake Natoma.

Virginia's second varsity eight and varsity four boats remained undefeated this spring by winning their heats and advancing directly to Sunday's (May 29) Grand Finals in those competitions. UVa's varsity eight crew finished second in its heat and advanced to Saturday's (May 28) semifinals.

"I am very pleased with how our crews did today," said Virginia head coach Kevin Sauer. "We raced well and did what we had to do. Now we have to take care of business on Saturday and that's the focus for the varsity eight."

The Cavaliers' varsity eight moved past Brown in the third 500-meter segment of the 2000-meter race to finish second to Yale. Yale had a time of 6:22.06 and Virginia was less than a second behind in second place with a time of 6:22.83. Brown finished third in the heat (6:23.50) followed by Tennessee (6:27.03), Southern California (6:30.22) and Wisconsin (6:33.61). UVa's varsity eight boat was comprised of Katie Hilton (coxswain), Catelyn Coyle, Ashley Jones, Margaret Matia, Andria Haneman, Carolyn McMillan, Kerry Maher, Katie Yrazabal and Melanie Kok.

 

 

Virginia's second varsity eight boat led from start to finish and defeated Brown by almost five seconds in its heat. The UVa crew had a time of 6:38.15 and Brown was second in 6:43.11. Michigan State finished third in the heat with a time of 6:43.79 followed by Yale (6:43.82), Washington (6:48.54) and Princeton (6:51.91). The Cavaliers second varsity eight boat was made up of Launa Forehand (coxswain), Beth Clark, Crystal MacLeod, Libby McCann, Kim Southern, Heather Gardner, Sara Lippa, Mary Dobmeier and Chrissie Monaghan.

UVa's varsity four crew also led from start to finish and defeated Brown by 4.5 seconds. The Cavaliers finished in a time of 7:20.37 and Brown was second in 7:24.87. Michigan finished third with a time of 7:30.99 followed by Yale (7:31.99), Princeton (7:38.15) and Harvard (7:47.33). Virginia's varsity four boat was comprised of Michelle Ellison (coxswain), Mindy Fiesler, Annemarie Pitts, Allison Brennan and Katrin Sydlik.

Virginia has finished in the top seven in the team competition at each of the eight previous NCAA Women's Rowing Championships. The Cavaliers finished fourth in 1997, third in 1998, second in 1999, third in 2000, seventh in 2001, fourth in 2002, sixth in 2003 and tied for sixth in 2004.

Virginia, Brown, Princeton and Washington are the only schools to receive team invitations to each of the nine NCAA Women's Rowing Championships.