Race Recap: Lanier Sprints, 3/31/07

*The Varsity Men's Light 8 and JV 8 battle for 3rd in the Collegiate 8 event.

GT Crew took the “home course” at Lake Lanier by force on March 31. The Varsity Women started things off well, sending out three pairs—Williams-Davis/Martell and Breedlove/Pohl both took first in their heats while York/Gutierrez-Ray opted for the adventure route when an equipment malfunction led to the boat flipping in the last 250m much to the amusement of the spectators in the grandstands.


*Adventure time in the pair*
The Varsity Men dominated the Men’s Collegiate 8+ with three entries—a Champ 8, Light 8 and JV 8. The Champ 8 won the event while a quick Colby crew edged out the Light 8 for 2nd with the JV8 placing in a close 4th.

Meanwhile Coach Curt Browder was taking care of business in the Open 1x, bringing home a silver medal.

The Women’s Novice 4+ won their heat with a strong sprint, edging out Georgia State. In finals, the 4 attacked their race well, but facing tough competition placed 5th overall.

The Varsity Women took over the 1x event with two rowers in both the collegiate and lightweight event. A couple of “old ladies” in the Open 1x joined the field to help mix things up. Needless to say all six competitors came home with a medal.

The Novice Men advanced two boats to the finals in the Collegiate Novice 4+ with a first and third placement in heats. The first place boat would eventually take 3rd overall in finals. The Novice Men also had two Collegiate Novice 8’s qualify for the finals with 2nd place finishes in their respective heats. The Women’s Novice 8 took a decisive first in heats, more than 10 seconds in front of LSU, setting them up well for finals.

The Varsity Women advanced out of heats in the Collegiate Varsity 4+ with an easy 2nd place. Soon after, the women took the top two places in the pair final, neck and neck down the entire course and so far ahead of the rest of the competition (Middlebury and three Clemson boats) that the grandstand announcer said, “I wonder what the story is on this one.” The varsity women took out the 4 for semis, marking the fifth 2k of the day for most of the boat and narrowly missed the finals with a 4th place finish.


*The Novice Women's 8 headed for gold*
The Men’s and Women’s Novice 8’s raced next both winning their events by more than seven seconds and finishing out a very successful day for the team in style.

Complete results here.

Photos courtesy of Vincent Wilkes and Louise Bauck.