July 30, 2001

Christine Elkins, a UNC graduate and former Carolina rowing assistant coach, has earned a spot on the U.S. World Championships team and will compete in Lucerne, Switzerland, Aug. 19-26. Elkins claimed the berth on July 21 at the USRowing National Team Trials in Princeton, N.J., where she teamed with Laura Rauchfuss to win the women's double sculls second final in a time of 7:03.7, more than nine seconds ahead of the next boat.

The win came on familiar territory for Elkins and Rauchfuss, who row out of the Princeton Training Center. Elkins is now the women's rowing novice coach at Rutgers University.

Elkins earned a degree in English from UNC in 1996 and served as a UNC assistant coach in 1997-98, the program's first varsity season. She is the second rower with Tar Heel ties to represent the U.S. on a national team. Dana Peirce, a 2001 graduate, was a member of the U.S. Junior National Team in 1996 and '97. Peirce, who stroked the U.S. to a bronze medal in 1997 and won an NCAA bronze as a Carolina freshman in 1998, participated in the USRowing Pre-Elite Nation's Cup Selection Camp in Ithaca, N.Y., in June.