Oct. 3, 2011
2011 Head of the Oklahoma Results
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. - Stanford women's rowing got its Fall season underway, as the eight won the collegiate eight race at the Head of the Oklahoma with the fastest time of the day and the four collected a Night Sprint win in a photo finish.
The defending champion and course-record holder Cardinal eight led the field the length of the 4,000-meter course, pushing out to a win of over nine seconds over Texas.
The Cardinal will travel to Boston in three weeks to compete at the Head of the Charles.
"This race hit earlier in the season than usual and school started later, so we had to put lineups together quickly and get the boats up to speed," said Stanford women's rowing head coach Yasmin Farooq. "We took a "NASCAR pit crew" approach to the weekend and really embraced each practice leading up to it with that kind of urgency. Both boats raced aggressively, and made the most of the day. There certainly is work to do in the weeks ahead, but a race like this one is a great reminder that we ultimately train to race. The overall atmosphere is really a celebration of the athletes' efforts and the Oklahoma fans made all of us feel special. We'll be back."
Conditions were nearly perfect as the course flattened out for the fours race in late afternoon. Stanford's varsity four finished second behind Texas in the Head of the Oklahoma, and won the 500-meter Night Sprints. In the head race, they started the race in second behind Texas A, last year's winner, and chased them the length of the course, finishing six seconds behind.
Both 500-meter Night Sprint races were photo finishes with the eight edged by Oklahoma on the finish line. Two hours later, in the final collegiate race of the evening, the Stanford and Oklahoma fours battled stroke for stroke the length of the course. A final surge by the Cardinal resulted in a win by two-hundredths of a second.
Varsity Eight: Naomi Cornman, Erin Radigan, Julianna Kapjian-Pitt, Christina Bax, Kristy Wentzel, Alix Chrumka, Daphne Martschenko, Sarah Bolmer, Nancy Miles
Varsity Four: Katie Lopez, Susan Bryukhanov, Caitlin Byrnes, Chelsea Shannon, Marielle Higgins.