George Washington University Athletics
George Washington University
Rutgers
Women's Rowing Drops Season Opener at Rutgers
4/3/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Rowing
March 30, 2008
EAST BRUNSWICK, NJ -The George Washington women's rowing team dropped it's season opener last weekend at Rutgers University in a strong tailwind. The Colonials dropped all four races to the Scarlet Knights.
The first race of the afternoon was the Novice 4 race, which proved to be the closest race of the day. Rutgers crossed the line in a time of 8:03.4 with GW A following right behind at 8:08.6 and GW B finishing with a time of 8:28.9. In the Novice 8 event, GW had a great start and stayed with their competition until the last 500 meters when Rutgers pulled away to finish with a time of 7:12.9 compared to 7:23.4 for GW.
In the varsity events, GW's Second Varsity 8 finished 12 seconds behind Rutgers with a time of 7:09.1. The final race of the day was the Varsity Eight. Both crews started off strong and there was some intense racing early on. As the boats entered the last 1,000 meters, Rutgers proved to be too much for GW and pulled away down the stretch for the victory.
"This wasn't really the way any of us wanted to open the season, but I think that everyone rowed really well," said head coach Robert McCracken. "After rowing against another team for the first time this year, I think it showed everyone that we need to dig a bit deeper each day in practice. Our hope is that we can make a lot of progress this week as we prepare for our upcoming races."
GW returns to competition this weekend with races in New Jersey and in Virginia. On Saturday morning, the Colonials will face fellow Eastern Sprints members Boston University and the United States Naval Academy for the Playfair Trophy on the Cooper River. Races begin at 8:00 am and conclude by 9:30 am.
On Sunday, GW heads to Occoquan, VA for the George Mason Invite. This regatta features a morning and afternoon session of dual or three way races between a number of schools. Racing begins at 9:40 am and concludes at 3:00 pm. GW is scheduled to compete against the University of Dayton, George Mason University, Bucknell University, Georgetown University and MIT.
"The number of races this weekend will give our rowers a great opportunity to learn and improve every race," said assistant coach Maria Bokulich. "Each race is a learning experience that if approached in the proper manner, can help us gain speed. It's important this early in the season for our boats to become more comfortable and competitive as we progress towards the A-10 Championships and finally Eastern Sprints."
DIRECTIONS TO OCCOQUAN
To reach Sandy Run, take I-95 south of the Beltway, exit at Lorton Road, turn right on Lorton, turn right on Furnace Road, right again on Ox Road (Route 123), left on Hampton Road, turn left on Van Thompson and follow it to the park entrance
