George Washington University Athletics
George Washington University
Duke/North Carolina
Women's Rowing Has Strong Showing Against Duke, UNC
3/31/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Rowing
March 31, 2009
WASHINGTON, DC - George Washington Women's Rowing returned to the Potomac River on Saturday for a double dual with Duke and North Carolina. The Colonials faced off against Duke in the first session of races and UNC in the second.
In the varsity eight race, Duke jumped out at the start and the GW crew of Katie Martin, Carrie Rollman, Ellen Van Cleave, Stephanie DeFlora, Lisa VanArsdale, Bess Austin, Allison Miedema, Bonnie Scott and Rhonda Crittle was not able to close the gap during the rest of the race. The Blue Devils crossed the line 12 seconds ahead of the Colonials with a time of 7:14.0.
The Colonials returned to the water a few hours later to take on the Tar Heels of UNC. Both crews were side by side for the first 1,000 meters before UNC made a move and put some open water between the two crews. UNC was able to hold off a last second charge by GW to cross the line with a time of 7:10.1. GW finished four seconds back with a time of 7:14.8.
"The varsity eight did a much better job racing this week," said GW head coach Robert McCracken. "They brought the intensity up a level and were able to implement many of the things we worked on in practice the past few days. We still have a lot of work to do and I hope we can continue to make improvements that will help us gain speed over the rest of the season."
On the novice side, the GW crew of Meghan Kearns, Morgen Ellis, Courtney Pendray, Estee Gabel, Sara Levi, Anne Kuznicki, Rachel Roth, Sarah Thompson and Sarah Hill fell to the Blue Devils by 34 seconds. In their second race of the day, the novices fell to UNC by 23 seconds.
"Both Duke and UNC were a lot faster than us today," GW novice coach Maria Bokulich said. "I thought our novices did a much better job than last week, but their inexperience showed through. The positives we took away from today's races are that they are getting better with every stroke and are working hard to make their goal of reaching the medal stand at the Atlantic 10 Championships a reality."
GW also raced a varsity four during the weekend. The crew of Ayla Richards, Ali Hamilton, Karri Hester, Mackenzie Hovermale and Stephanie Wiseman finished third behind two Duke entries. Against UNC, the crew faired much better and came out on the winning end of a close race. GW crossed the line first with a time of 8:29.8 with UNC finishing second at 8:29.9.
The Colonials travel to Camden, NJ this weekend to take on Boston University and the U.S. Naval Academy in the Playfair Cup. Races begin at 8:00 AM and will be held on the Cooper River.
Players Mentioned
