Women's Rowers Surpass Seeds in Solid Showing at Eastern Sprints
Written By: Columbia University AthleticsRelease: 05/17/2009
CAMDEN COUNTY, N.J. — Collegiate rowing coaches usually get it right when they seed teams for championships like the EAWRC Sprints. But Columbia's women's rowers were delighted to prove them wrong, again and again, in a solid showing at the 2009 Eastern Sprints on the Cooper River Sunday.
Take the varsity eight. Seeded only 11th of 18 teams, Columbia conformed to that seed when it finished fourth of six in opening heat. But in the afternoon Petite Final, the Lions turned on the jets. They finished ahead of Syracuse, Cornell and Boston University, all of which were seeded higher, en route to a runner-up finish in the race. The Lions just missed knocking off a fourth higher-seeded team when their closing rally fell 2.7 seconds short of first-place Penn.
"Our goal all season," head coach Melanie Onufrieff said, "was to keep improving, to get faster, and to beat our seed in the Eastern Sprints."
Although not eligible for a medal, the varsity's Petite Final was one of the day's most dramatic races.
As usual, Columbia was a little slow coming off the start, falling behind most of the crews in the six-boat race. They were soon joined by Rhode Island, rowing in the Sprints as a guest this year. Not used to EAWRC competition, the Rams followed Columbia's lead and elected to stay with the Lions.
However, it soon became apparent that both crews were faster than the higher seeds. First Rhode Island would take on a crew and edge ahead, Then Columbia would do the same.
In the final 500 meters, the Rams moved into second place behind pacesetting Penn, with Columbia a few seats back in third. The Lions then passed Rhode Island and closed on the Quakers, only to see the Rams move into second again.
The final meters were a mad dash for the finish line, Columbia passing Rhode Island once more and moving on Penn, as the Quakers frantically held off the surge.
Penn crossed the finish line first, in 6:46.431 for the 2000-meter course, with Columbia second in 6:49.133 and Rhode Island third in 6:49.375, a scant .24 seconds behind.
"We worked all year on building our base speed," Onufrieff said. "In the past week leading up to the Sprints, we made lineup changes and other changes, and they responded well to them. They executed!
"We trained all year to race, [not just to row]. That was a rowing race, that was a crew race!"
The second varsity eight needed to make the Grand Final (top six) to beat its seventh seed. With just 200 meters to go, the crew appeared on target, trailing only Yale in the opening heat.
"We rowed a gutsy race," Onufrieff noted. "It wasn't even close — until the final 15 strokes."
In that interval, Boston U. was able to overtake the Lions and pass them for the second and last Grand Final slot, by just 1.3 seconds. The effort took too much out of the second varsity, which finished sixth of six in the Petite Final.
The novice eights were conceded a Grand Final slot after a superb spring season, but their sixth seed meant that the EAWRC coaches didn't expect them to beat anyone in that Grand Final.
Wrong. Columbia finished second of five in its opening heat, trailing only Brown and topping Penn, Northeastern and Rhode Island. In the Grand Final, the Lion Cubs soon fell behind highly-rated Yale, Brown and Cornell, who finished 1-2-3, but they refused to concede to anyone else. As the race caller told the large crowd lining the banks of the Cooper River despite threatening skies, gusty winds and sub-60 degree temperatures, it soon became "two separate races". Columbia was intent on "winning" the second one.
"Yale, Brown and Cornell had been at the top all season," novice coach Malcolm Doldron said. "We raced against all three and knew we were a bit overmatched. But we really wanted to beat our seed."
"We didn't roll over and die early in the season when we had some [tough going], and we didn't do that now."
The Lions held off formidable Dartmouth and Syracuse to retain fourth place, two places above their seed. Their 7:00.326 edged the Big Green by fewer than three seconds, and the Orange by 7.5 seconds.
"We had no superstars this season, no U.S. Elite Team members," Doldron said, "just young women who wanted to work really hard."
Five other Columbia novices also beat their seed handily.
The second novice four with coxswain had won the gold medal in last season's Eastern Sprints, the first Sprints gold ever won by a Lion women's crew. Nevertheless, they were seeded just 10th for this year's competition.
After just missing a Grand Final repeat slot — Penn overtook Columbia for the last Grand Final qualifying slot by just two seconds in the heat — the Lions blew out their competition in the Petite Final, finishing seventh overall in 8:13.942, more than four full lengths in front of Boston College (8:38.574). George Washington, Syracuse and Navy followed.
"They needed a race like that," Doldron said, "to finish this season."
The final results:
The 2009 Eastern (EAWRC) Sprints Sunday, May 17, 2009 Cooper River, Camden County, N.J.
Courtesy: Columbia University Athletics/Gene Boyars
