May 27, 2007

NCAA Rowing Championships Website

Oak Ridge, Tenn. - The Stanford women's eight capped off its season with a top 10 finish at the NCAA Championships on Melton Lake in Oak Ridge, Tenn. The Cardinal placed fourth in the Petite Final en route to its 10th place finish overall.

The race followed the pattern of the weekend - very tight margins throughout and a photo finish in the end. The Stanford lineup of Carly York, Eva Sheridan, Stephanie Morrison, Bea Gordon, Lauren Hofmayer, Jessi Reel, Kerry Birk, Elle Logan and coxswain Jenifer Brown got the initial jump out of the blocks in the 2000 meter race, but Dartmouth pushed ahead in the middle thousand. The two boats overlapped and led the tight field through 1500m. Minnesota outsprinted both to narrowly capture the victory and a seventh place overall finish. Tennessee edged the Cardinal in the final strokes for third. Stanford defeated Notre Dame for the first time in three meetings this season to take fourth. Harvard came across the line in sixth.

"It was yet another incredibly tight race that came down to the final strokes," head coach Yasmin Farooq said. "The depth of talent in this event leaves no margin for error. It was a great learning experience for our team to go stroke for stroke with these high-caliber teams. We're sending off senior Carly York with her best NCAA finish, and the returning underclassmen now have an idea of what it will take to come back and truly compete at the championship level."

Stanford logged four races in three days in the warm and humid Tennessee weather. On Thursday morning the Cardinal placed fourth in their Heat after being edged at the line by Notre Dame and Dartmouth in a photo finish. Stanford returned four hours later to win the seven-boat repechage and defeat Princeton, the eventual sixth place overall finisher, in another tight race. On Saturday, Stanford finished sixth in the Semifinal, sending them to Sunday's Petite Final.

"Rowing four close races in three days was truly a learning experience that will prove invaluable for our young team in the coming years," said freshman stroke Elle Logan. "Although there is unavoidable disappointment in our finish, we did establish a solid base. I'm confident we will be able to take the things we did well and the things we need to improve on and incorporate them into our rowing for next year. It is only up from here."

Stanford's 10th place finish by the varsity eight is its best ranking since 2003 and comes on the heels of its #2 finish in the PAC-10 two weeks ago.

"This season was a huge learning experience for all of us," junior seven-seat Kerry Birk said. "We really grew as a team this year, and all really enjoyed ourselves along the way. I think we're all already thinking about next year, and are excited for what we can do with this team. We only have two seniors leaving, and we are all committed and dedicated to going even faster next year."

Yale won the Grand Final to capture the varsity eights title and Brown University took home the team trophy. It was the second time ever that the overall winner did not win an individual event title.

2007 NCAA Rowing Championships
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Oak Ridge, Tenn. (Lake Melton)

Final Points Standings (All Events)
1. Brown (58)
2. Virginia (54)
3. Ohio State (52)
4. Yale (51)
5. USC (48)
6. Minnesota (47)
7. California (38)
8. Princeton (34)
9. Tennessee (29)
10. Washington (25)
11. Harvard (19)
12. Notre Dame (13)

Women's Varsity Eights
Grand Final
1. Yale (6:37.08)
2. Ohio State (6:38.77)
3. USC (6:39.45)
4. Brown (6:39.55)
5. Virginia (6:41.50)
6. Princeton (6:45.38)

Petite Final
1. USC (6:43.53)
2. Dartmouth (6:43.95)
3. Tennessee (6:44.32)
4. Stanford (6:45.71)
5. Harvard (6:49.16)
6. Notre Dame (6:51.04)

Third Final
1. California (6:47.40)
2. UCLA (6:51.55)
3. Washington (6:52.94)
4. Central Florida (7:03.18)

Women's Second Eights
Grand Final
1. Minnesota (6:56.39)
2. California (6:59.15)
3. Brown (6:59.71)
4. Virginia (7:01.52)
5. Ohio State (7:08.52)
6. Washington (7:11.29)

Petite Final
1. USC (6:58.34)
2. Tennessee (6:59.30)
3. Yale (7:01.10)
4. Harvard (7:06.34)
5. Princeton (7:11.15)
6. Notre Dame (7:16.16)

Women's Fours
Grand Final
1. Virginia (7:35.03)
2. Brown (7:45.54)
3. California (7:47.87)
4. Princeton (7:50.90)
5. Washington (7:53.75)
6. Yale (7:54.41)

Petite Final
1. USC (7:44.06)
2. Minnesota (7:49.31)
3. Tennessee (7:54.18)
4. Ohio State (7:56.02)
5. Notre Dame (7:56.34)
6. Harvard (7:58.91)