Rowing
The University of Miami rowing team took first place finishes in the Women’s Club 8+, the Women’s Collegiate and Club Novice 8+, the Women’s Freshman/Novice 4+, and the Women’s Open Pair. In addition, the Hurricanes earned a second place finish over powerhouses Texas and Duke in the Women’s Varsity 4+ at the 2003 Head of the Chattahoochee Regatta on Nov. 1-2 at Lake Lanier in Atlanta, Ga.The Lake Lanier venue was the site of the1996 Olympic Rowing events.
“This weekend was a great pay off for the athletes and the coaches,” Head Coach Debra Morgan said. “We have been riding on faith for a while now, knowing we needed to put in a lot of hard work at practice before we would see the better race results. Hopefully this weekend will only be the start of a rise in the national rankings.”
UM’s Women’s Club 8+ team of coxswain Jessica Martin, rowers Anna Cohen, Bridget Gallagher, Karen Wiley, Sarah Conlon, Rachel Sander, Laura Coltman , Rachel Clausing and Jenny Dunning placed first ahead of fifteen teams with a time of 17:44.8.
“We had the race we were capable of,” said coxswain Jessica Martin. “Not only did we want to beat our time from last year, we wanted to win. At the starting line I told them how last year we took more than 20 minutes so this year we wanted to break 19. Sarah added that we should break 18 minutes, and we did exactly that.”
Rowers Valerie Webb (Fr.), Ashley Via (Fr.), Alicia Alamar (Fr.), Marenda Chamberlin (Fr.), Sarah Stocks (Fr.), Erin Morris (Jr.), Molly Wilson (Fr.), Nicole Van Ee (Fr.) and coxswain Meghan Leydecker (Fr.) earned the Hurricane’s second top-place finish in the Women’s Collegiate and Club Novice 8+ with a time of 19:27.1.
The Hurricanes’ team of coxswain Meghan Leydecker, rowers Karen Wiley, Sarah Conlon, Valerie Webb and Laura Coltman finished with a time of 20:18.4 to take top honors Freshman/Novice 4+.
Miami placed second in the Women’s Varsity 4+ with a time of 19:42.3 behind Clemson and just ahead of Texas, a team that competed at the 2002 NCAA Championships. The UM Varsity 4+ team consisted of coxswain Laura Comeau, rowers Ashley Marinscin, Jenny Krawec, Aoife Forde, and Jordanna Heywood.
Forde comes to UM from Galway, Ireland and rowed in the two seat of Varsity 4+ as well as the Varsity 8+.
The Hurricanes also placed fifth in the Varsity 8+, third and seventh in the Women’s Club 4+, third in the Women’s Collegiate and Club Novice 4+, third in the Women’s Single, and second and fifth in the Women’s Open 4x.
Miami will return to the water on Saturday, Nov. 8 to participate in the Florida Fall Regatta in Melbourne, Fla.
Golf
The University of Miami women’s golf team recorded a final round 305 to finish fourth at the Ross Resorts Invitational in Southern Pines, N.C.
The Hurricanes, who have finished in the top-5 of all five tournaments this fall, were led by senior Camilla Hilland who finished tied for fifth with a three-round total of 226 (77-73-76).
Darby Sligh won the individual title with a three round score of 211 (68-75-68). James Madison (299-305-307-911) won the team championship.
The Ross Resorts Invitational is the final event of the fall season for the Hurricanes. Miami opens its spring season February 8-10 at the UCF Invitational in Orlando, Fla.