TicketsMay 13, 2007
OAK RIDGE, Tenn.---The women's rowing team had a tough first day at the Central/South Regional Championships in Oakridge, Tennessee. Facing 23 of the top teams from around the country really proved to be a challenge for the Bearcats.
The second varsity four team consisting of Leah Sass, Candice DeCree, Deirdre McCartney, Elizabeth Nocheck, and Ashley Wolff started the day in the third heat and resulted in a fifth place finish with a time of 8:34.37. The day continued with the novice eight boat of Courtney Knudsen, Kara Stricker, Ashley Ryan, Jessica Bohache, Jackie Sander, Teresa Schmidt, Jessica Spencer, Anna Hallet, and Brianna McSemek racing the second heat against close rivals Ohio State and Michigan, but fell short and took the fourth place finish in 7:43.42. The varsity four boat of Mary Locke, Kelly Camp, Jackie Kleinhans, Katie McGill, and Lindsay Fattlar couldn't hold on to a top finish and ended up taking home a fifth place finish with a time of 8:02.83.
Melissa Patrick, Sarah Lautenslager, Jessica Miller, Lisa Teague, Jodie Lush, Crystal Coolbaugh, Emily Fox, Julie Idoine, Stephanie Celek filled the second varsity eight boat but again could not hold on to a top finish and ended up finishing fifth with a time of 7:17.15.
The day finished with the first varsity eight team of Liz Johnson, Abby Beach, Sarah White, Jessica Beebe, Beth Murphy, Lindsey Kemna, Eliz Tremblay, Megan Peters, and Emily Knaus placing fifth with a time of 7:06.16. But the crew was able to beat for the second time this season Eastern Michigan.
All five teams will compete tomorrow in the `C' and `C/D' finals, hoping to improve after the rocky start in the preliminaries.