The women's varsity eight finished third in a close finish in the petite final of the club, DII, DIII event in the Southern Intercollegiate Rowing Association (SIRA) Championship on Sunday, April 18th at Melton Hill Lake in Oak Ridge, TN.
Coxed by Briana Hurley, the crew of Brittni Slattery, Dinah Harjo, Katie Sondag, Sarah Meyer, Megan Duffy, A. Rose Lane, Kathryn Schiro and Jane Imfeld raced three times in a qualifying heat, semifinal and final over the two-day regatta. This was OCU's first appearance at this regatta.
In the petite final on Sunday, OCU rowed the 2000 meter course in 7 minutes, 26 seconds. Although the Stars executed a courageous sprint and edged up a boat length on Marietta in the final 350 meters, Marietta was able to hold onto second place with a time of 7:26. Ohio State won the petite final in 7:21, while Mercyhurst (PA), the overall winner of the event, placed first in the grand final in 6:59.
"Competing and performing at a regional regatta of this size has given OCU the exposure and experience to accomplish great racing at the DAd Vail," OCU women's coach Melanie Borger said. "We are all proud of placing in the petite final and finishing with the eighth fastest time of the event. We will spend the next three weeks building off this weekend's results."
OCU entered the championship regatta seeded ninth and placed second in the qualifying heat on Saturday with a time of 7:03. There were four heats, and the top-three finishers from each heat qualified for the first level semifinals later that afternoon. Beating Charleston, Michigan State, Miami (OH) and Wshington in the heat guaranteed the Stars an entry into the semifinal later that afternoon.
During the afternoon, a cross-tail wind of 10 mph contributed to fast times, and the Stars pulled their fastest time to date of 7:01. OCU came in fourth place, advancing the crew to the petite final with Colorado and Tulane in fifth and sixth. Mercyhurt, Barry (FL) and Florida Tech, who clinched the top three positions in the semi, advanced to the grand final.
A special thanks to Kat Schiro's parents, Julia Branch and Joe Hill, for providing support, food and transportation all weekend. Everything from the grilled salmon to the baked brie and all the trail mix and dried fruit was above and beyond the call of duty. You made the shore of Melton Hill Lake a home.
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