UVa Wins Varsity Eight Semi, Advances To All 3 Grand Finals

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CHERRY HILL, N.J. – Virginia’s fourth-ranked Varsity Eight won its semifinal with a victory over No. 1 Stanford, and the Second Varsity Eight and Varsity Four also qualified for Sunday’s grand finals on the second day of the 2009 NCAA Rowing Championships on the Cooper River.

Virginia is one of four teams (California, Stanford and Yale are the others) to have a boat in each of Sunday’s grand finals. The Varsity Eight will be raced at 11:45 a.m. Sunday with UVa competing against No. 1 Stanford, No. 2 California, No. 3 Yale, No. 8 Princeton and No. 10 Brown. The finals can be watched online by clicking on this link.

“It feels great to be one of four schools with a boat in each of the grand finals,” Virginia head coach Kevin Sauer said. “We’ve got to keep it going one more day and give it our best shot.”

The first semifinal, which Virginia was competing in, was called back due to an equipment issue that resulted in a Clemson rower going into the water. After moving on to the second semifinal, that race was called back due to a false start. Those teams regrouped at the start line and California (6:12.87), Princeton (6:17.03) and Yale (6:18.32) came in first, second and third to qualify for the grand final.

In Virginia’s semifinal, Stanford led at the 500, 1,000 and 1,500 meter marks, but the Cavaliers kept it close. In the final 500 meters, Virginia overcame the top-ranked Cardinal to claim the narrow victory. Virginia’s winning time was 6:15.53, compared with Stanford’s time of 6:15.59 and Brown’s time of 6:23.20.

Virginia’s Varsity Eight crew is coxswain Sidney Thorsten, Jennifer Cromwell, Helen Tompkins, Desiree Burns, Amanda Chase, Lauren Hutchins, Augusta Stratos, Nora Phillips and Victoria Burke.

In the Second Varsity Eight semifinal, Virginia was in fourth place at the 500-meter mark, but came back at the midway point to trail just the leader Brown. In the final 1,000 meters, Virginia continued to push but finished a second behind the Bears. Brown’s winning time was 6:28.55, compared to the Cavaliers’ 6:29.75.

Virginia will compete in the grand final of the Second Varsity Eight at 11 a.m., against California, Washington, Brown, Stanford and Yale. Virginia’s 2V8 crew is coxswain Cristine Candland, Lauren Shook, Claudia Blandford, Marie Long, Bridget Fowler, Martha Kuzzy, Cara Linnenkohl, Christine Roper and Susie Chalker).

The Varsity Four (coxswain Sarah Pichardo, Ruth Retzinger, Summers Nelson, Caroline Sweeny, Shalane Carlson) had an exciting finish to qualify for its grand final. After 500 meters, Virginia was in fifth place, but battled to fourth position by the final 500 meters. The Cavaliers managed to edge Washington for the third and final qualifying spot in the final meters of the race.

Clemson was first in that race (7:16.17), followed by Yale (7:17.50) and UVa (7:18.28). Joining those teams in the grand final is Wisconsin, California and Stanford from the other semifinal.

The Varsity Four grand final will be Sunday at 10:15 a.m.

Semifinal Results
EVENT: VARSITY EIGHT
Semifinal 1: 1. Virginia (6:15.53); 2. Stanford (6:15.59); 3. Brown (6:23.20); 4. Michigan (6:26.92); 5. Washington (6:30.28); 6. Clemson (6:35.03)
• (Virginia lineup: Coxswain Sidney Thorsten, Jennifer Cromwell, Helen Tompkins, Desiree Burns, Amanda Chase, Lauren Hutchins, Augusta Stratos, Nora Phillips, Victoria Burke)
Semifinal 2: 1. California (6:12.87); 2. Princeton (6:17.03); 3. Yale (6:18.32); 4. USC (6:20.69); 5. Michigan State (6:24.44); 6. Ohio State (6:29.45

EVENT: SECOND VARSITY EIGHT
Semifinal 1: 1. Brown (6:28.85); 2. Virginia (6:29.75); 3. Yale (6:31.92); 4. Ohio State (6:40.45); 5. Michigan (6:44.39); 6. USC (6:47.88)
• (Virginia lineup: Coxswain Cristine Candland, Lauren Shook, Claudia Blandford, Marie Long, Bridget Fowler, Martha Kuzzy, Cara Linnenkohl, Christine Roper, Susie Chalker)
Semifinal 2: 1. Stanford (6:27.08); 2. Washington (6:28.61); 3. California (6:29.66); 4. Princeton (6:30.57); 5. Michigan State (6:33.30); 6. Clemson (6:50.09)

EVENT: VARSITY FOUR
Semifinal 1: 1. Clemson (7:16.17); 2. Yale (7:17.50); 3. Virginia (7:18.28); 4. Washington (7:19.17); 5. Harvard (7:30.75); 6. Brown (7:31.69)
• (Virginia lineup: Coxswain Sarah Pichardo, Ruth Retzinger, Summers Nelson, Caroline Sweeny, Shalane Carlson)
Semifinal 2: 1. Wisconsin (7:15.35); 2. California (7:17.83); 3. Stanford (7:18.58); 4. Ohio State (7:19.95); 5. Michigan (7:22.19); 6. USC (7:26.53)