Women's Crews Make Splash At Eastern Sprints
May 20, 2000 | Women's Rowing
Six Terriers crews made it to the Grand Finals, and three of them earned medals as B.U.'s women's crews finished fifth overall in the team scoring on May 14 at the Eastern Sprints.
The boats that advanced to the finals were the varsity, second varsity, first novice and second novice eights along with the "A" and "B" novice fours. The crews that earned the medals were the first novice eight, which finished third, the second novice eight, which was second, and the novice four "A", which was second.
In the overall team point total, the Terriers finished with 55 points, just one point shy of fourth-place Radcliffe and three points shy of third-place Virginia. Brown, which won the first and second varsity heavyweight events along with the first novice, won the overall point trophy with 72 points. Princeton was second with 62, followed by Virginia, 58; Radcliffe, 56; and B.U., 55.
The Terriers' finish virtually assured them of receiving a bid to the NCAA Championships, which will be held May 26-28 in Camden, NJ.
In the featured event, the varsity heavyweights, the Terriers rowed two great races, and finished sixth in the Grand Finals.
In the morning heats, pitted against Brown, Northeastern, Cornell, George Washington, and MIT, the Terriers finished second to Brown in the second fastest time of the morning. They were clocked in 6:56.00, while Brown had the fastest time of any boat in the morning with a 6:50.70. After the Terriers' morning time of 6:56.00, the next fastest time was Radcliffe's 6:59.30.
In the afternoon Grand Finals, the Terriers finished fifth with a time of 6:50.00, only four-tenths of a second slower than fourth-place Virginia, which was clocked in 6:49.60. Brown won the event with a time of 6:34.20, more than nine seconds faster than runner-up Princeton, which was clocked in 6:43.60.
"The varsity rowed a great race in the afternoon," said Terrier head coach Holly Hatton. "With 700 meters to go, we were challenging Princeton for third place.
"One of our problems was that we were in lane one, which was unsheltered," said the coach. "In the end, that might have cost us fourth place because Virginia was in lane six, which was sheltered. They wound up beating us by less than a second.
"Last year, Virginia was one of the best boats in the country so it shows that we are moving into the higher echelons of crews," said Hatton.
The big question would be how the second varsity eight would do. If they had a good row, it might be good enough to move the team into strong contention for an at-large bid to the NCAA's. At the time, the team was on the bubble along with Northeastern. Brown was assured of a bid, while Harvard/Radcliffe seemed certain for the second bid.
Earlier in the season, the Terriers' second varsity lost to Northeastern by a scant bow ball, which gave the Huskies the edge over the Terriers.
It all came down to the morning heats at the Sprints.
B.U. was in a heat with Brown, Cornell, Syracuse, and Yale, while the Huskies were matched against Virginia, Wisconsin, Navy, Columbia, and MIT.
The Terriers rowed hard and finished second and qualified for the afternoon Grand Finals in 7:17.90, while Brown was clocked in 7:01.80. In the meantime, Northeastern finished third in its heat and did not advance to the Grand Finals, instead settling for the Petites, with a time of 7:22.60.
Thus, the Terriers not only beat the Huskies in time but also in position.
"The 2V's rowed a really good hard race," said a very pleased Hatton.
"They really solidified our position for a team bid to the NCAA's."
Then, in the Grand Finals, B.U. finished sixth with a time of 7:04.90, 10 seconds behind fifth-place Radcliffe, which turned in a 6:54.00.
"We finished as we had expected," said Hatton. "I think the 2V did a great job for what they brought to the table. They are just not as big for strong as the other JV boats."
It was the three novice boats that truly excelled.
The first novice eight earned a bronze medal when it finished third behind Brown (6:50.10), and Radcliffe (6:54.80). B.U. was timed in 6:58.70.
The second novice eight won a silver medal when it finished second to Princeton, 7:23.80 to 7:27.0.
Finally, the novice four also won a silver medal when it lost to Wisconsin, 8:12.50 to 8:41.40.
"The novice four boat continued to have an amazing season," said Hatton. "They have lost just to Brown this year, and they are the ones who are going to bolster the varsity over the next three years."
