UM falls short of last year's performances
Jeff R. Larnard, Collegian Staff
Issue date: 5/6/08 Section: Sports
This weekend at the Eastern College Athletic Conference Championship the Massachusetts rowing team failed to duplicate the three silver medal performance they had last year.
Instead, the team came home after Sunday's race with a silver and bronze medal. Overall, the Minutewomen's performance resembled what they were projected to do. Three of the of UMass's five boats that raced, finished where they were ranked at the start of the regatta.
The Grand Final for the Varsity 8 boats finished just as they were projected. Bucknell (6 minutes, 37.178 seconds) took first, followed by Buffalo (6:40.879), Rhode Island (6:42.693) and UMass (6:50.019). Rutgers (6:52.930) and Colgate (7:04.114) rounded out the rest of the Grand Final.
Of the top four boats, the Minutewomen were the only boat that did not improve on their time from the first round. UMass's time slipped not even a second, but with the other three top boats all improving by more than a second and a half, it can make a difference in a race. Bucknell improved its time the most, by more than seven seconds, while URI rowed faster by five seconds.
The most successful boat on the day for the Maroon and White was the Second Varsity 8, taking the team's lone silver medal. Again the Minutewomen finished the day where they were projected to finish at the beginning of the day.
After finishing second in the first round to Buffalo (6:56.525), UMass (6:58.974) made significant improvement on their time in the Grand Final. The Minutewomen shaved more than seven seconds off of their first round time to complete the Grand Final in 6:51.578.
Despite the improvement on their time, the Minutewomen took second behind Bucknell (6:50.391). UMass led the race for its majority only to fall to the Bison in the last quarter of the race. Bucknell improved its first round time by almost 15 seconds to overcome the Minutewomen.
"We had the lead for three quarters of the race over Bucknell," UMass assistant coach Pat Tynan said. "I don't think we we're expecting to be ahead of them at the half."
Instead, the team came home after Sunday's race with a silver and bronze medal. Overall, the Minutewomen's performance resembled what they were projected to do. Three of the of UMass's five boats that raced, finished where they were ranked at the start of the regatta.
The Grand Final for the Varsity 8 boats finished just as they were projected. Bucknell (6 minutes, 37.178 seconds) took first, followed by Buffalo (6:40.879), Rhode Island (6:42.693) and UMass (6:50.019). Rutgers (6:52.930) and Colgate (7:04.114) rounded out the rest of the Grand Final.
Of the top four boats, the Minutewomen were the only boat that did not improve on their time from the first round. UMass's time slipped not even a second, but with the other three top boats all improving by more than a second and a half, it can make a difference in a race. Bucknell improved its time the most, by more than seven seconds, while URI rowed faster by five seconds.
The most successful boat on the day for the Maroon and White was the Second Varsity 8, taking the team's lone silver medal. Again the Minutewomen finished the day where they were projected to finish at the beginning of the day.
After finishing second in the first round to Buffalo (6:56.525), UMass (6:58.974) made significant improvement on their time in the Grand Final. The Minutewomen shaved more than seven seconds off of their first round time to complete the Grand Final in 6:51.578.
Despite the improvement on their time, the Minutewomen took second behind Bucknell (6:50.391). UMass led the race for its majority only to fall to the Bison in the last quarter of the race. Bucknell improved its first round time by almost 15 seconds to overcome the Minutewomen.
"We had the lead for three quarters of the race over Bucknell," UMass assistant coach Pat Tynan said. "I don't think we we're expecting to be ahead of them at the half."
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