OAK RIDGE, Tenn. (April 22, 2024) – The Rollins women's rowing team was up against DI schools at SIRA this year. There were not as many smaller NCAA teams and the one DII team that did show up, Mercyhurst, did not end up racing the Tars head-to-head.
The Varsity 8 was not able to earn a spot in the grand final with Louisville, Kansas State, Jacksonville, Mercyhurst, Vanderbilt and Purdue. The petite final was a duel between University of Dayton and Rollins. In the races leading up to this duel, Rollins had beaten Dayton by two seconds in the time trail and then Dayton posted better time in the semis but only by .3 seconds.
When the flag dropped it was a dead heat through the first 500m. Each crew was stroke-for-stroke and the 16 blades were hitting the water in unison. As they crossed the 500 Rollins was able to slip their deck ahead of Dayton. The next 500m was just a gradual, seat-by-seat push to the thousand-meter mark. This is where Dayton tried to make a push and Rollins responded immediately. Through the third 500 Rollins increased their lead so the coxswain was sitting on the one seat of the Dayton boat. Rollins held their split strong, kept their composure and crossed the line 2.2 seconds ahead of the Flyers.
"As much as we wanted to be in the grand final and were looking forward to rowing against Mercyhurst, this was a great race for our women and great preparation for our Sunshine State Conference Race in Sarasota this coming Friday," commented Head Coach
Shawn Pistor.
Rollins raced two fours in the Open Varsity 4 event and through the time trials and semifinal races met each other in the second level finals. The women fought hard against each other, pushing their teammates down the course to try and post the best time possible. The A boat crossed the line ahead of the B boat and rowed technically well for the livestream which we received 100% of the airtime for that race.
UP NEXT:
The Tars will head to Sarasota to compete at the SSC Championships on Friday, April 26.
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