May 27, 2012
2012 NCAA Championship Results
WEST WINDSOR, N.J. - No. 11 Stanford women's rowing finished its weekend of competition at the NCAA Championships Sunday at Lake Mercer, finishing ninth in the team standings with 40 points.
Individually, the I Eight finished eighth overall, the II Eight took 11th and the Four finished 16th."I'm really proud of everyone on this team--here and at home--and I'd like to thank the seniors for their steady leadership during a tough season that ultimately ended on a truly positive note," said Stanford women's rowing head coach Yasmin Farooq. "We had seven people waylaid with a stomach bug over the past five days and everyone really kept cool heads, supported each other and never lost focus. We were fortunate to have athletic trainer Sarah Merkel with us and she was invaluable. We couldn't have gotten the boats back together for the semis and finals without her help. It was a true team effort that ended with three really hard-fought races and a finish that we are all very proud of."
The I Eight completed a tough three days of racing by taking second in the Petite Final Sunday morning. Rowing its fourth race in three days, the Cardinal went stroke-for-stroke with UCLA and Harvard for much of the course. In the end, the schools would be separated by just 1.4 seconds, as UCLA crossed first in 6:28.49 with Stanford next at 6:29.86, three-hundredths of a second ahead of Harvard.
Even more competitive was the II Eight Petite Final, in which the first- through sixth-place boats were separated by just 4.61 seconds. The Cardinal II Eight found itself right in the thick of the chase, eventually crossing the line fifth in the race with a time of 6:46.64, just under four seconds behind winner USC.
The Four rowed in its class' Third Final. In yet another close race, the Cardinal finished fourth in 7:35.33, just 2.74 seconds behind race winner USC (7:32.59).
"Of the 25 rowers here, 18 are freshman and sophomores, so the experience that we got racing at the NCAA's was invaluable," Farooq added. "Between the first varsity and the second varsity there were three photo finishes that they won by two to three hundredths of seconds. It shows the resiliency and toughness of this squad. They've come a long way in one year and I'm really looking forward to the progress we will make together in the fall."
Virginia captured the NCAA team title with a total of 87 points and its I Eight won the NCAA title. Michigan won the II Eight NCAA title while Ohio State captured the title in the Four.
Stanford LineupsI Eight: Jenna Levy (c), Sarah Bolmer, Kristy Wentzel, Caitlin Byrnes, Amanda Lorei, Erin Radigan, Daphne Martschenko, Christina Bax, Alison Fauci
II Eight: Naomi Cornman (c), Marielle Higgins, Chelsea Shannon, Alix Chrumka, Claire Grover, Chierika Ukogu, Courtney Carrabino, Kayla Cornale, Julianna Kapjian-Pitt
Four: Katie Lopez (c), Anne Osborn, Elsa Brown, Valerie Frank, Rebeca Felix
Spares: Shanique Martin, Nancy Miles