May 31, 2009

Courtesy of Villanova

CHERRY HILL, N.J.—Stanford became only the fifth different team champion in 13 years of championship racing as it won the 2009 NCAA Women’s Rowing Division I Championship on Sunday at Cooper River Park.  Led by a first place finish in the I Eight, the Cardinal finished with 88 points to top the team standings in the field of 16 schools.  

Stanford and fourth-place team finisher Virginia raced to the finish in the first Eights less than a second apart.  Stanford held the lead at each 500-meter split and won with a time of 6:11.95, less than four-tenths of a second ahead of the Cavaliers, who came in with a time of 6:12.32.  California (6:14.76) was just 2.81 seconds off the pace in third place, while Yale came in fourth with a time of 6:17.22.  Brown (6:18.13) and Princeton (6:24.02) were fifth and sixth, respectively.  

In the Grand Final of the Second Eights competition, Yale moved up from fifth to third to first during the course of the race to beat California by just over half a second.  The Bulldogs were in fifth place after the first 500 meters but were the only boat out of six to improve their split time when they reached the midpoint.  Yale crossed the finish line in 6:29.04, while the Golden Bears finished 0.54 seconds off the pace with a time of 6:29.58.  The race was tight throughout, with third-place Stanford (6:31.88) just 2.84 seconds back and fourth-place Brown (6:32.93) 3.89 seconds behind.  Washington (6:34.28) was fifth and Virginia (6:37.17) sixth.

The Tigers of Clemson took first place in the Grand Final of the Fours competition by just 1.76 seconds over Wisconsin to earn 16 team points.  Clemson led by more than two seconds at both the halfway mark and the 1,500-meter mark before holding off the Badgers down the stretch.  The winning time for the Tigers was 7:26.78, while Wisconsin crossed the finish line in 7:28.54.  Yale (7:30.81), California (7:32.01), Stanford (7:32.29) and Virginia (7:34.26) finished in third through sixth place to complete the championship field.

There was a tie for second place in the team standings between California and Yale, who each score 85 points.  The Golden Bears finished in second place by virtue of a higher finish in the Grand Final of the Varsity Eights, while the Bulldogs were third.  The rest of the team standings included Virginia (78), Brown (71), Michigan State (54), Washington (50), Ohio State (49), Michigan (48), Princeton (46), Southern California (46), Clemson (43), Wisconsin (26), Harvard (21), Oregon State (14) and Dartmouth (12).  

Brown ended a two-year run as national champions as the Cardinal won the title for the first time.  The only other schools to win the title are California, Harvard and Washington.  The NCAA Rowing Championships were held for the first time in 1997.  This year’s event was hosted by Villanova University.  

The Petite Final in the Varsity Eights was captured by Michigan State, which was a narrow winner over Michigan by just four-hundredths of a second.  The Spartans time was 6:19.05, while the Wolverines crossed the line in 6:19.09.  There was even less separation between third and fourth places in the Petite Final, with Southern California finishing in 6:23.37 and Ohio State two-hundredths of a second back in 6:23.39.  Washington was fifth (6:25.99) and Clemson sixth (6:32.25).  

Harvard was first in the Third Level Final with a time of 6:24.90 and was followed by Dartmouth (6:27.16), Oregon State (6:28.27) and Wisconsin (6:31.90).  

Michigan State was first in the Petite Final of the second Varsity Eights with a five-second margin over Ohio State.  The Spartans completed the course in 6:37.83 and was followed by the Buckeyes (6:42.85), Southern California (6:46.19), Michigan (6:49.18), Clemson (6:51.60) and Princeton (6:52.97).  In the Third Level Final, Wisconsin beat out Oregon State with a time of 6:44.96.  The Beavers (6:48.79) were followed by Harvard (6:51.00) and Dartmouth (6:57.69).  

In the Petite Final of the Fours competition, Ohio State held off Brown by less than a second with a time of 7:27.14.  The Bears were 0.96 seconds off the pace in 7:28.10, while Washington (7:30.68), Michigan (7:31.00), Southern California (7:34.71) and Harvard (7:44.49) were third through sixth.  

Michigan State recorded a time of 7:29.71 in the Third Level Final to finish first ahead of Princeton (7:33.08), Oregon State (7:34.04) and Dartmouth (7:47.15) in rounding out the field in the Fours races.

FINAL TEAM STANDINGS

Stanford          88
California        85                           
Yale              85
Virginia          78
Brown             71
Michigan State    54
Washington        50
Ohio State        49
Michigan          48
Princeton         46
Southern Calif.   46
Clemson           43
Wisconsin         26
Harvard           21
Oregon State      14
Dartmouth         12

FIRST PLACE FINISHERS IN INDIVIDUAL EVENTS
Varsity Eights – Stanford
8 – Erika Roddy
7 – Diana Eaton
6 – Elle Logan
5 – Julie Smith
3 – Lindsay Meyer
2 – Michelle Vezie
1 – Adrienne Fritsch
Coxswain – Jenna levy

Second Varsity Eights – Yale
8 – Emily Matykiewicz
7 – Alexandra Wilde
6 – Dara Dickson
5 – Armine Afeyan
4 – Alexandra Thompson
3 – Lauren Richards
2 – Rebecca Nadall
1 – Lee Glandorf
Coxswain – Mia Kanale

Varsity Fours – Clemson
Kelly Murphy
Lydia Hassell
Callen Erdeky
Alison Colberg
Meredith Razzolini