Murray State University Athletics
Lightweight Fours Win Silver Medal at Head of the Chattahoochee Regatta
11/3/2003 12:00:00 AM
The Murray State women's rowing team took home a medal from the Head of the Chattahoochee Regatta on Saturday, as the lightweight fours crew won silver at the 5,000-meter (3.1-mile) event.
The crew of coxswain Samantha Hobbs, stroke Lensey Edwards, Rachel Hopper, Emily Cook and Lindsay Flowers finished second with a time of 21 minutes, 45.2 seconds, just 18.6 seconds behind the winning boat from Jacksonville University.
Murray State beat out crews from Vanderbilt, Alabama, Emory, Florida, Georgia and Georgia Tech.
In the novice eights, Murray State's "A" boat placed 10th out of 34 boats with a time of 21:13.7, finishing 0.8 seconds ahead of North Carolina State and 3.5 seconds ahead of Georgia Tech. Miami won the event with a time of 19:27.1.
Rowing for Murray State "A" were coxswain Sara Glenn, Laurie LeCompte, Elaine Schaad, Jamie Spradley, Sarah Bullock, Anna Huffaker, Emily Cook, Cathy Walker and Tracy Bogard.
The Murray State "B" boat finished 31st with a time of 24:11.6, beating out North Carolina Wilmington by 7.4 seconds, College of Charleston by 11.5 seconds and Auburn by 48 seconds.
Rowing the MSU "B" boat were coxswain Laura Graham, Aminda Moore, Megan Wong, Mandy Nonn, Colleen Rice, Nicole Erwin, Amanda Kirk, Audrey Ferguson and Geri Zavala.
In the varsity eights, Murray State placed 16th with a time of 19:37, 10.9 seconds ahead of Southern Methodist, 17.9 seconds ahead of Central Florida "B" and 26.9 seconds ahead of Georgia Tech "A." Duke "A" won the event with a time of 17:32.
Rowing for the MSU varsity eights were coxswain Nicole Brandt, Natalie Wendt, Anna Grout, Elizabeth Skees, Rachel Brown, Kristen Slater, Myriah Conaughty, Lensey Edwards and Lori Bright.
In the varsity fours, Murray State "A" placed 22nd with a time of 22:44.7, while MSU "B" was 27th at 23:28.5. The "A" boat beat out Miami (Fla.) by 4.1 seconds and Georgia State by 10.8 seconds, while the "B" boat bested Baylor by 31.1 seconds and Rice by 35 seconds. Duke "A" won the event with a time of 20:25.6.
"We had beautiful rowing conditions," said first-year head coach Bill McLean. "Our novice teams rowed exceptionally well. They had a great time. Things came together for them: the cohesion of timing, swinging together and being consistent. It was a 'competitive fun' experience for them. They are enjoying the pursuit and the rewards that come with that. They came off the water excited for the opportunities for this spring, and that's great."
The Head of the Chattahoochee was the final fall competition for the Racers, and McLean summarized his first semester at Murray State.
"We have great athletes who have been more than patient on both sides, men and women. Apparently, our 'curse' is broken, where we seem to have had strong winds or bad weather or things going against us. We placed well in some events this fall, and we got some hardware out of it. We have the makings of a good program, and with 18 freshmen rowing, we have a good future to build on as well."
The next scheduled competition for the women's rowing team will be on March 27, a tri-meet at Washington (Mo.) that includes Creighton.
