Men's And Women's Crews Drop Hard-Fought Races To Washington
April 22, 2000
VANCOUVER, Wash. - - The Oregon State men's and women's crews gave perennial powerhouse Washington all it could handle in a dual meet Saturday on Lake Vancouver, but both came up short of what would have been a major upset.
In the men's varsity eight race, No. 3 Washington opened up a boat-length lead by the 1,000-meter mark over the No. 18 OSU crew. The Huskies widened the gap to an open water margin by the finish line thanks to crisp, powerful rowing on course conditions that proved to be quite calm for the majority of the morning. The Beavers finished in 6:09.83, 7.4 seconds behind Washington.
"I thought the weather was great and the conditions were some of the best we've had on this lake," OSU men's coach Dave Reischman said. "In the varsity race, I thought we were running a pretty good race for the first 1,500 meters. We were still in contact with them, and in the last 500 meters we ran out of juice, which is where Washington got a bit of their margin."
The men's Junior Varsity eight finished in 6:07.5 seconds, just 5.8 seconds behind Washington's JV. The 5.8-second margin is the closest ever for OSU in the JV race against the Huskies.
The freshman eight `A' squad took second in a four-boat race that featured two crews from each school. OSU's `A' team beat out Washington's freshman `B' team to finish in a time of 6:41.78. The men's varsity four finished in 7:13.84, well behind Washington's `A' and `B' boats, which finished in 6:54.09 and 6:59.07, respectively.
"The Junior Varsity crew had a good race," Reischman said. "Washington is probably one of the top crews in the country if not the favorite for the national championship in that event. I thought our guys raced them tough all the way down the course.
"I've seen better rows out of the freshman eight, and I know they were frustrated by that," Reischman said. "Hopefully it will give them a little fire in their bellys as we lead up to Pac-10s."
The women's varsity eight crew faced a strong headwind and choppy conditions by the time they raced in the late morning. OSU rowed to a time of 7:11.6, but No. 1 Washington blasted through the challenging conditions to win in 6:51.5. The Huskies shot out to an early open-water lead by the 500-meter mark, and used picture-perfect technique to extend their margin and power their way to the finish line.
"It was tough for the first and second varsity boats because we got way behind Washington," OSU women's coach Charlie Owen said. "I don't think it was the best race we've had so far this year. The choppy, windy conditions make it more difficult. With the head wind, it makes the margins bigger. It didn't make it easier, and we could have handled the conditions a bit better."
"We haven't had the most consistent week of practice this week, either. The race was a reflection of how we did in practice. We've got a few weeks before Pac-10s where we're going to focus on making some improvements."
The women's varsity four `A' team turned in a strong showing against the Huskies, finishing in 7:39.94 and beating out the Washington `C' team to finish third behind UW's `A' and `B' teams.
Washington's second varsity eight finished in 7:04.5 to beat OSU's time of 7:20.7, while the women's novice eight dropped a close race as well, finishing roughly nine seconds behind UW with a time of 7:22.3.
OSU's second novice eight was even with the Washington crew for a good portion of their race, but fell just short of the victory, coming in three seconds behind the Huskies at 7:19.3.
"We raced pretty well. I was impressed with the way all of the novice boats raced today," Owen said. "There was some really good racing in those boats, where they wanted to go out and race hard. I was excited to see that because they are the future of our program. It's nice to see people in there that will go out and race hard."
The OSU women will travel to Redwood Shores, Calif., next week to compete in the Stanford Invitational. The men will take their JV and freshman eight teams as well as a third varsity four to the Opening Day Regatta in Seattle on May 5-6. Both teams will then compete in the Pacific-10 Championships in Sacramento, Calif. May 14.
RESULTS
MEN'S VARSITY EIGHT - 1. UW 6:02.43, 2. OSU 6:09.83
WOMEN'S VARSITY EIGHT - 1. UW 6:51.5, 2. OSU 7:11.6
MEN'S JV EIGHT - 1. UW 6:01.7, 2. OSU 6:07.5
WOMEN'S 2ND VARSITY EIGHT - 1. UW 7:04.5, 2. OSU 7:20.7
MEN'S VARSITY FOUR - 1. UW `A' 6:54.09, 2. UW `B' 6:59.07, 3. OSU 7:13.84
WOMEN'S VARSITY FOUR - 1. UW `A' 7:23.3, 2. UW `B' 7:30.31, 3. OSU `A' 7:39.94, 4. UW `C' 7:44.51, 5. OSU `B' 7:45.50, 6. OSU `C' 7:49.07.
MEN'S FRESHMAN EIGHT - 1. UW `A' 6:30.57, 2. OSU `A' 6:41.78, 3. UW `B' 6:46.54, 4. OSU `B' 7:16.08
WOMEN'S NOVICE EIGHT - 1. UW 7:13.1, 2. OSU 7:22.3
WOMEN'S 2ND NOVICE EIGHT - 1. UW 7:16.3, 2. OSU 7:19.3
