Men's and Women's Crew Row well at National Championships
May 29, 1999
Corvallis - Camden, NJ/Sacramento, CAL -- The Oregon State University mens and womens varsity eight crews had one of their best races in several seasons Saturday in their respective national championships. The men finished second in the Petite Finals of the Intercollegiate Rowing Association National Championships, while the women won the level III title at the NCAA Championships.
The mens team, ranked No. 14 in the nation, rowed 5:40.1 for the programs best ever overall finish of eighth place. Temple won the Petite Finals, which is a race determining positions seventh through 12th, with a time of 5:38.6. Syracuse was third, followed by Stanford, Northeastern and Michigan.
"Our goal coming to this event was to finish in the top-10, so we are certainly very happy with our finish," OSU Head Coach Dave Reischman said. "This was our best race of the championships from start to finish."
Oregon State fell to fourth place in the first 400 meters of the 2000-meter race, but had moved into second by the 800 meter mark. The Beavers fended off strong pushes by Syracuse and Northeastern at the midway point to hold onto second.
"The boats behind us made several strong moves, but we were able to match them the whole way," Reischman said. "We threw everything we had at Temple, but we just couldnt make up the difference. Im really proud of this team and they way they handled themselves. We had the unfortunate situation of missing a couple of our regular members of the varsity boat, but we still rowed at a very high level and were very competitive."
The No. 12 womens varsity eight captured 13th place at the NCAA Championships by winning the level III finals. The Beavers edged strong crews from Wisconsin and Massachusetts to earn the top position.
"We grabbed the lead right from the start and stayed aggressive," OSU womens Head Coach Charlie Owen said. "It was a satisfying finish, especially when you consider we lost to Wisconsin and Massachusetts earlier in the year."
The Mens freshman eight finished 15th by placing third in the level III championships.
Mens Varsity Eight Petite Finals (7-12) -- Temple, 5:38.6; Oregon State, 5:40.1; Syracuse, 5:42.8; Stanford, 5:44.5; Northeastern, 5:44.7; Michigan, 5:51.0
Mens Freshman Eight Level III Final (13-18)-- Marietta, 5:59.60; Michigan, 6:00.70; Oregon State, 6:04.00; Navy, 6:07.60; Drexel, 6:07.80; Georgetown, 6:09.40
Womens Varsity Eight Level III Final (13-19)-- Oregon State 7:09.4; Wisconsin, 7:14.0; UMass, 7:15.1; William Smith, 7:25.3; UC Davis, 7:26.3; Williams College, 7:37.7; Marietta, 7:37.8
