George Washington University Athletics
Women's Rowing Closes Season at Eastern Sprints
5/16/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Rowing
May 16, 2006
CAMDEN, NJ -- The 2005-06 Women's Rowing Season came to an end as GW sent three women's crews to race on the Cooper River in Camden, NJ, Sunday at the 30th Annual Women's Eastern Sprints Championships. The Sprints brings together the top women's rowing programs in the East to compete in the oldest collegiate championship in women's rowing. Several of the nation's top programs battled in the last regular season championship prior to the NCAAs. The GW women combined to score nine points to tie Georgetown for 15th place out of 17 schools.
The Varsity 8 made it to the petite final which was one of the team's goals entering the season. In the petite final GW got off to a slow start and, by approximately 20 strokes into the race, GW was a boat down on the field.
"I was impressed by how the varsity eight fought the entire race," GW head coach Rob McCracken said. "Despite being down at the start, they did not give up and continued to work their way back to the rest of the field."
Both the novice eight and the second varsity eight finished last in their respective events. "Despite our finish, I was pleased with how the noviceteam rowed," GW novice coach Sarah Dondero said. "Theywere able to put together the race theywanted, but in the end it wasn't enough. We figured things out a little late, but hopefully they are excited to work hard this summer and come back ready to go in the fall."
"The second varsity eight had a tough year," McCracken added. "Everyone in the boat worked extremely hard, but for some reason we could not translate that into boat speed. I am glad they came off the water after their last race feeling good about how they rowed. They were simply beat by better crews. On the whole I was very pleased with how the team did this year. While the results were not always what I would have liked, I think the team took a huge step forward. The work ethic, determination and competitiveness that they displayed on a daily basis was something that has been missing at GW for a few years. The team laid a great foundation that will pay dividends on the water come next spring."
For complete results, click on: http://www.row2k.com/results/resultspage.cfm?UID=6992570&cat=2
