Murray State University Athletics
Racers win silver at SIRA
4/19/2005 5:00:00 AM
Murray State arrived in the final of the 2,000-meter event after placing first in its heat earlier in the day. The Racers completed the course in a time of 7 minutes, 40 seconds, which was 18.88 seconds ahead of second-place Nova Southeastern. MSU finished ahead of Tampa, Clemson and Purdue.
In the semifinals, the Racers finished less than nine seconds behind Louisville. The Racers' time of 8:07 was better than Tulsa, Dayton and Grand Valley State.
Then it was on to the final, where Murray State jumped in front at the gun and led the race some 600 meters into the event before they were overtaken by the team from Louisville. The two teams were neck-and-neck the rest of the way before the Racers finished 8.39 seconds behind the Lady Cardinals.
"I'm very excited about the way our team performed," said Murray State coach Bill McLean, who has watched his squad get better with each event. "They had the kind of day I thought they could have, because they have been practicing at a very high level.
"It's all about technique and conditioning, and we're getting better at those two points every day."
The Racer women's novice eights placed sixth after competing against several varsity programs at SIRA.
The Murray State rowing team travels to Madison, Wis., on Saturday to compete in the Midwest Rowing Championships on Lake Mendota.
