Virginia Captures Ninth Straight ACC Rowing Championship

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Clemson, SC Virginia, led by its Varsity Eight crew, claimed its ninth consecutive Atlantic Coast Conference Rowing Championship Saturday morning on Lake Hartwell at Clemson University as the meet resulted in ACC Championship record times for three of the four events. The Cavaliers’ unprecedented ninth-straight ACC Championship is a feat no other UVa team has accomplished. Virginia’s men’s swimming team won eight-straight conference crowns from 2000-2007.

The Cavaliers, coached by Kevin Sauer, who was voted the ACC’s Coach of the Year, captured three of four events to score 58 points and outdistance host Clemson, which finished second for the fifth time in the nine-year history of the ACC Rowing Championships.

Duke finished third with 33 points, followed in fourth place by North Carolina with 28, Miami was fifth with 24 points and Boston College finished in sixth place with 12.

Virginia’s Varsity Eight, ranked No. 3 nationally, was named the ACC’s Crew of the Year after claiming the ACC title in an ACC Rowing Championships record time of 6:22.0, 10 seconds better than the second-place Tigers, who recorded a time of 6:32.6. The previous ACC Rowing Championships record was a 6:28.1 finish by the Virginia Second Varsity Eight in 2007.

The Virginia First Varsity Eight is composed of Caitlin Mixter (coxswain, Oakton, Va.), Jennifer Cromwell (Bellevue, Wash.), Rebecca Ryall (Auckland, New Zealand), Lauren Hutchins (North Vancouver, Canada), Kelsie Chaudoin (Germantown, Tenn.), Desiree Burns (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.), Augusta Stratos (Charlottesville, Va.), Bridget Wandelt (Clifton, Va.) and Katrin Sydlik (Schonebeck, Germany).

Virgina’s record setting effort was one of three on the day as Clemson’s Novice Eight set an ACC Championship mark with a time of 6:46.3, nudging Virginia (6:47.9) by 1.6 seconds. The win by Clemson in the Novice Eight marked only the third time in the ACC Rowing Championships that a team other than Virginia captured an individual event. All three of those wins have been claimed by Clemson. In all, Virginia has won 33 of 36 individual ACC Rowing events in route to nine straight ACC Championships.

Virginia recorded an ACC Championship record in the First Varsity Four with a time of 7:18.10, edging Clemson (7:25.9). The previous standard of 7:23.4 was set by UVa in 2006.

Virginia also won the Second Varsity Eight race (6:31.4), edging Clemson.

In the Second Varsity Four race, UVa “A” (Taylor Gilmore, Susie Chalker, Nora Phillips, Schafer Bomstein, Jessica Streufert) won with a time of 7:26.1, followed by UVa “B” (Sarah Pichardo, Summers Nelson, Shalane Carlson, Mariana Lima, Pamela Baylor) in second place (7:35.8). Rounding out the race was Clemson (7:49.0), Duke (8:25.0) and Boston College (8:35.0).

Clemson freshman Liz Robb of Roswell, Ga. was named as the ACC’s Freshman of the Year and earned a spot on the All-ACC Rowing Team.

Virginia coxswain Caitlin Mixter earned her third straight All-ACC Rowing accolade, becoming the first coxswain in ACC history to be named to the All-ACC team three times. North Carolina senior Lisy McIntee was also named to the all-conference team for the third consecutive year. Mixter and McIntee are only the third and fourth ACC rowers to be named three times to the All-ACC Rowing team. Duke’s Joanna Hingle (2001-03) and Clemson’s Sarah Cooper (2005-07) are the others.

Sauer was named ACC Coach of the Year for the fifth time in his nine years at UVa.

Robb, Mixter and McIntee led by the All-ACC team selections which also included Kelsie Chaudoin, Katrin Sydlik, Bridget Wandelt and Augusta Stratos of Virginia; Suzanne Van Fleet and Jessica Leidecker of Clemson; Gwen Coleman and Alex Japhet of Duke; Ruby Woodside of North Carolina and Laura Cordner of Boston College.

ACC Rowing Results:

1V8+: 1. Virginia, 6:22.0; 2. Clemson, 6:32.6; 3. Duke, 6:40.1; 4. Miami, 6:46.3; 5. North Carolina, 6:48.1; 6. Boston College, 6:48.6.

2V8+: 1. Virginia, 6:31.4; 2. Clemson, 6:36.8; 3. North Carolina, 6:55.1; 4. Duke, 6:58.9; 5. Boston College, 7:03.1; 6. Miami, 7:03.7.

N8+: 1. Clemson, 6:46.3; 2. Virginia, 6:47.9; 3. North Carolina, 7:06.0; 4. Miami, 7:36.1.

1V4+: 1. Virginia, 7:18.6; 2. Clemson, 7:25.9; 3. Duke, 7:43.7; 4. Miami, 7:46.5; 5. North Carolina, 7:50.8; 6. Boston College, 8:13.5.

2V4+: 1. Virginia “A”, 7:26.1; 2. Virginia “B”, 7:35.8; 3. Clemson, 7:49.0; 4. Duke, 8:25.0; 5. Boston College, 8:35.0