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No. 6 Lightweight Rowers to Compete at IRA Championships This Weekend

May 31, 2007

ORLANDO, Fla. (www.UCFAthletics.com) - The UCF lightweight eight travels to New Jersey for the 2007 Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) Championships, which begin Friday, June 1 on the Cooper River.

The crew - which consists of coxswain Tori Ryan, Lauren Schueler, Michelle Carter, Megan Mitchell, Taylor Wiatt, Morgan Bell, Kathleen Noble, Kathryn Harness and Celeste Brown - has not competed together since mid-April at the Windermere Classic. UCF went head-to-head against IRA Championship competitors Princeton, Stanford and Loyola Marymount at that event.

Ranked No. 6 in the final USRowing Lightweight Women's Eight Collegiate Coaches Poll, the Knights open up this weekend's competition in the second of two heats, facing Princeton and Stanford - two of the top three nationally ranked boats - and Long Beach, Bucknell and Lehigh.

The top two finishers from each of the heats earn automatic berths to Saturday's grand final, while the rest are relegated to the afternoon's repechages. The winner of each of the repechages also advances to the grand final. All others move to the petite final, also held on Saturday.

Because the NCAA doesn't sponsor a championship in the lightweight events, the collegiate rowing community considers the IRA Regatta to be the national championship.

For the latest news and information on the Knights, tickets or apparel log on to www.ucfathletics.com - the official site for UCF varsity sports.