Alabama Rowing Closes Opening Day of 2018-19 Season with Four Top-10 Finishes
9/29/2018 8:12:00 PM | Rowing
The Crimson Tide missed out on bronze medals by a combined five seconds across two events
OKLAHOMA CITY – In the first day of the Head of the Oklahoma, the Alabama rowing team racked up four top-10 finishes to open its season.
"It was a solid first race," UA head coach Glenn Putyrae said. "Early in the season, it's always fun to be competitive in the 8+ but we always want to do better."
The Crimson Tide started the day with two top-10 finishes in the Women's Collegiate 8+, securing fifth and sixth place in its first trial of the season. The fight for the top-10 provided stiff competition as a total of seven seconds separated the second- through fifth-place crews.
After a break, Alabama returned to the course in the Women's Collegiate 4+. In another down-to-the-wire finish, Alabama came two seconds short of a bronze, finishing fifth and sixth. The Tide's other two boats finished 11th and 12th to round out the event.
"It was another very competitive race – in the hunt for medals – but we still have a lot of work to do on consistency and execution," Putyrae said. "Fortunately, we have a lot of time to work on getting better."
The Tide ended the day in the Women's Collegiate 8+ 500-meter Night Sprint, finishing fourth and fifth.
Alabama returns to action Sunday morning for the Women's Open 2- starting at 8:40 a.m. CT.
Live results are available at www.HereNow.com.
For the most-up-to-date information on the team, follow Alabama rowing via AlabamaRow on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
