Oregon State
Pac-10 Championships
Novice 8 Earns Silver Medal, Beavers' Season Ends at Pac-10 Championships
May 15, 2011 | Women's Rowing
May 15, 2011
GOLD RIVER, Calif. -
The Oregon State Novice 8 rowed to a silver medal finish and OSU's women's rowing team finished the 2011 season at the Pac-10 Championships with a seventh place finish Sunday.
"The novice race was thrilling," head coach Emily Ford said. "They raced exactly to plan and did a great job for the team."
In the first race of the day for the women, OSU's novices, which were seeded fifth in the race, got off to a solid start finishing the first 500-meters in fourth place, less than a half-second ahead of fifth place Washington State. The Beavers remained in fourth in a heated four-boat race for second through the next 1,000-meters with Washington, UCLA, and WSU jockeying for position. However, it was the Beavers' who posted the fastest final 500-meter split to move through the boats of the Cougars and Huskies into second place a full three seconds ahead of the third place boat.
"I am extremely proud of the way they raced. They handled variable conditions with maturity, they focused on each stroke and demonstrated an unwavering commitment to each other," novice coach Kate Maxim said. "Their strength has been their ability to respond to every challenge put before them - and to tackle it as a unit. They truly have come to respect that together they are better. They are a remarkable combination of athletes and it has been an honor to work with them throughout the season."
Oregon State's three varsity boats, which have been ravaged by injury and illness all season, struggled through changing weather conditions Sunday.
In the Varsity 4+, OSU's crew made a strong move in the third 500m leg to pass Stanford for sixth where the Beavers finished nearly three seconds ahead of the Cardinal.
In what seems to have become the norm for the Varsity 8, just days after senior Devery Karz, who typically rows in the 4-seat, broke her arm, the boat was once again dealt a blow when junior Melissa Sloan (illness) who was slated to row in the 3-seat, became the sixth V8 crew member to go down.
A storm broke at the start of the Varsity 8 race complete with a clap of thunder immediately following the start command and the wind picked up by an estimated 10 mph providing all of the crews with new conditions for the final race of the day. The decimated OSU crew finished seventh to wrap up the regatta and the season.
"That boat has had some serious bad luck," Ford said. "That crew has had so much adversity - no one will ever know everything they've been through. I give them so much credit for maintaining their dignity in the face of it all."
The Second Varsity 8 also finished seventh finishing eight seconds behind sixth place UCLA. The Beavers, as a team, finished seventh in points.
At-large selections for the Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) National Championships are scheduled to be announced Tuesday, May 17. IRA Championships will be held May 30-June 2 at Camden, N.J.
Results
TEAM (Points)
1. California 43.5
2. Stanford 34
3. USC 30.5
4. Washington 25.5
5. Washington State 24
6. UCLA 14.5
7. Oregon State 10
Varsity 8
1. California 7:02.1
2. Stanford 7:02.6
3. USC 7:09.3
4. Washington State 7:16.4
5. Washington 7:17.8
6. UCLA 7:31.6
7. Oregon State 7:58.8
Second Varsity 8
1. Stanford 6:24.5
2. California 6:32.4
3. USC 6:34.3
4. Washington 6:36.2
5. Washington State 6:38.3
6. UCLA 6:39.8
7. Oregon State 6:47.5
Varsity 4+
1. California 7:14.6
2. Washington 7:18.7
3. USC 7:19.2
4. Washington State 7:24.0
5. UCLA 7:25.2
6. Oregon State 7:30.7
7. Stanford 7:33.4
Novice 8
1. California 6:52.0
2. Oregon State 6:58.7
3. Washington 7:01.6
4. Washington State 7:03.9
5. UCLA 7:07.2
6. Stanford 7:14.1
7. USC 7:23.6
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