Nov. 5, 2004
ORLANDO - The UCF women's varsity rowing team competes in its final tune-up of the fall season this weekend at the Head of the Chattahoochee in Gainesville, Ga. The Golden Knights will race four crews on the Lake Lanier course, which was built for the 1996 Olympic Games and also served as the site of two NCAA Championships co-hosted by UCF.
First up, both the lightweight eight and the third varsity eight will compete in the club eight event at 8:30 a.m. The Golden Knights return five rowers - including Robin Capers, Melissa Kroll, Lindsay Wood, Kelli Creighton and Laura Brad - from last year's lightweight eight boat that finished sixth at the Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships. They are joined by two more experienced rowers in senior Janae Corrado and sophomore Pamela Wall as well as freshman Lauren Rice and sophomore coxswain Nicole Stewart, who rowed with the UCF novice crew last year. Although there is a lightweight 8+ event, the coaching staff saw the benefit in racing the club eight instead.
"The club eight event includes mostly smaller varsity eights and second and third varsity eights from the larger programs," said UCF head coach Leeanne Crain, who is in her second year at the helm. "I think they have a good chance of performing well in that mix of programs."
Meanwhile, despite suffering some injuries and illness, the Knights' varsity eight of Caitlin Pauls, Kyla Smith, Tanya Kleisler, Kristin Roach, Amy Price, Krystina Sarff, Katherine Motes, Mary Rosser and coxswain Lisa Beltran is still bolstered by their 26th place finish in the championship eight event at the prestigious Head of the Charles Regatta two weeks ago. They beat Clemson in that race and will face the Tigers, who placed second at the `Hooch in 2003, again this weekend.
"In addition to Clemson, the field at the `Hooch will include some teams that we couldn't get passed last season - Texas, Miami and Kansas. We also went back and forth with Southern Methodist in the spring," said Crain. "It will certainly be a competitive race."
UCF's second varsity eight will also compete in the championship eight, which scheduled to begin at 11:05 a.m.