Men, Women Rowers In ECAC Semifinal
5/10/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Crew
May 10, 2003
CAMDEN, NJ - Gonzaga University's men's and women's varsity eight crew teams both advanced to Sunday's semifinals of the ECAC Invitational Rowing Championships on the Cooper River.
The second-seeded Bulldog women won heat two in 7:06.35 over the 2,000-meter course, the only top seed to hold on the women's side. The top-seeded Gonzaga men finished fourth in heat one in 6:03.05 but still qualified for Sunday's semifinals as the top four boats from each heat advanced to the semifinals.
"We rowed a good race," Gonzaga women's head coach Glenn Putyrae said. "We were a little too relaxed in the middle but made a good sprint. We were down seven seats to the (United States) Coast Guard (Academy) after 500 meters."
The women edged the USCGA by 1.06 seconds as the Coast Guard finished in 7:07.41. Ohio State was third in 7:13.79 and Marist fourth in 7:14.35 to also qualify for the semifinals.
Gonzaga's women's boat is comprised of coxswain Courtney Haase, Cynthia Savoca, Maria Bokulich, Renee Holl, Jenifer Gehlsen, Breah Neimiec, Karen O'Hagan, Kristi Aamodt and Bridget Troy.
Top-seeded Trinity finished fourth in heat one and third-seeded New Hampshire was third in heat three as the other two top seeds struggled to qualify for the finals. Washington College won heat one in 7:03.67 and Holy Cross won heat three in 7:02.1
On the men's side, Gonzaga's men were out of a qualifying spot with 750 meters to go but sprinted to earn a semifinal berth.
"The first 500 meters was tight, then we lost significant ground in the middle of the race," Gonzaga men's head coach Dan Gehn said. "It was an undesirable performance and we'll have to make some adjustments for Sunday."
Marist won heat one in 5:57.45, Virginia was second in 5:57.99 and Rhode Island finished third in 6:00.15. Gonzaga edged Trinity (6:04.22) for the fourth and final semifinal berth.
Second-seeded Michigan won heat two in 5:58.72 and third-seeded George Washington won heat three in 6:01.4 as Gonzaga was the lone top seed to lose.
Gonzaga's men boat consisted of coxswain Elaine Parry, Mark Voorhees, Pat Haffey, Connor Barry, Nathan Wilson, Ben Foley, Jeff Kiely, Brad Hughes and Mike Baisch.
With a threat of thunderstorms scheduled for mid-day on Sunday, the morning times have been adjusted to earlier starts in an effort to complete the semifinals prior to the possible storms. The first men's varsity eight semifinal will be at 7:30 a.m. PDT with the second men's semi at 10:40 followed by the two women's varsity eight semifinals at 10:50 a.m. and 11 a.m. PDT. The top three finishers from each of the semifinals will advance to the Grand Final with the third and fourth place finishers advancing to the Petite Final. The fifth and sixth place finishers from Saturday's three heats were automatically placed into Sunday's Third Final.
The men's Petite Final is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. PDT and the Grand Final is set for 1:20 p.m. PDT. The women's Petite Final is set for 1:30 p.m. PDT and the Grand Final for 1:40 p.m. PDT. Weather could alter those times, and there is enough daylight to stretch racing to as late as 8 p.m. EDT (5 p.m. PDT) if necessary.
