Rowing Finishes Off Season in South/Central Sprint Championship Finals
5/17/2009 12:00:00 AM | Rowing
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The Alabama Rowing team closed out its third season as an NCAA Division I program with a solid showing in its first trip to the Aramark South/Central Region Sprint Championships held on Melton Hill Lake in Oak Ridge, Tenn.
"Things were rainy and windy early but when it was time race it was just windy," Alabama head coach Larry Davis said. "It was certainly not anything as rough as what we faced in Philadelphia. It was cooler than it has been, but reasonable in terms of racing conditions."
Alabama's Novice 8+ crew took sixth place in the Petite Final with a time of 6:43.9, finishing just over a second behind Notre Dame.
"For our first time there, looking at the other crews, I think our level of skill was good, we just need to keep working away, improving our training base and our depth," Davis said. "To make it to the NCAA it's not enough to have one or two good crews. You have to go 23 deep in terms of your top-line athletes. We still have a ways to go, but I'm encouraged by our progress in just three years."
The Crimson Tide took fourth place in the C final of the Varsity 4+ at 7:31.8, just behind Texas and three seconds ahead of Kansas State. The Tide was fifth in the Second Varsity 8+ race with a time of 6:48.3, again finishing ahead of Kansas State.
Alabama won the D final of the First Varsity 8+, posting a time 6:33.7, finishing 13 seconds ahead of second place Eastern Michigan.
"One of the things I think we learned is that you have to do your job on day one or you won't get the chance on day two," Davis said. "With the time we rowed today in the First Varsity 8+, we would have been very competitive in the C final, we just didn't do our job in the second 500 yesterday, so we ended up rowing in the D final."
