No. 8 Rowing In the Thick of Competition After First Day of NCAA Championships – Ohio State Buckeyes
5/30/2003 12:00:00 AM | Rowing
May 30, 2003
Indianapolis, Ind. – The No. 8 Ohio State first varsity 8 finished fourth in its preliminary heat, but survived in the event’s repechage to qualify for the semifinals Saturday during the first day of the 2003 NCAA Championships Friday at Eagle Creek Reservoir in Indianapolis, Ind. The Buckeye second 8 and first 4 finished second and third, respectively, in preliminary heats to set them up for strong finishes in second round action tomorrow.
The Buckeye first varsity 8 started its preliminary race strong, sitting second behind Princeton through the first 500 meters, but fell off in the second 500, slipping into fifth. The boat raced well over the second half of the race, but was unable to crack the Top 3 necessary finish to skip the Repechage round and qualify immediately for the semifinals. The team finished in six minutes, 42.6 seconds, just .7 seconds behind the coveted third-place spot. Princeton won the race in 6:39.50 ahead of Harvard (6:41.00) and USC (6:41.90).
In the Repechage, the Buckeyes survived a scare, finishing third in the race (7:11.46) behind Texas (7:09.29) and Yale (7:09.43) to squeak their way into the semifinal round. OSU sat in fifth after the first 1000 meters, but picked up the pace, passing Michigan State and Washington State over the final 1000 to take over the third-place spot. The team finished just .37 seconds ahead of the Spartans, sending the MSU top boat to the ‘C’ final.
“There are a lot of crews in the event that are very close to each other,” Andy Teitelbaum, Ohio State head coach, said. “Whether you succeed is just a question of if you’re going to be the best when you need to be. It’s about the mental game, emotion and intensity. When you have a seven minute race where you’re separating so many boats by such a small distance, it doesn’t take much to be at the bottom of the pile.” The Buckeye first 8 finished first in its preliminary heat at the 2002 championships to skip the repechage round and qualify immediately for the semis. Ohio State last competed in a first 8 repechage in 2001 when it finished fourth in its preliminary heat. The boat won its repechage to move to the semifinals and eventually took first in the Petite Final, guiding the way to a fourth-place team finish.
The Buckeye second 8 had a strong row after struggling at both the Big Ten and central regional championships. The boat took second in its heat, finishing in 6:58.88, behind Cal (6:52.53), edging out Washington State (7:01.42). Unfortunately, the excellent performance contributes little to the team’s advancement in the competition. Only the team finishing first in each preliminary heat of the second varsity 8 competition advances immediately to the Grand Finals, while every other team must compete in the repechages Saturday regardless of its performance on day one. The win, however, does give the Buckeyes a top lane for its repechage heat.
“It’s nice to see (the second 8) is showing more competitiveness,” Teitelbaum said. “A heat is a funny thing because you never know who is (saving energy) and who is rowing hard, but its nice to see they have what appears to be a legitimate chance of going to the Grand Finals.”
The Ohio State first 4 also had a quality performance in its preliminary heat. The boat raced a consistent 2000 meters, staying in the Top 3 throughout the race. After sitting second after the first 1000 meters, Michigan passed up the Buckeyes for the final 1000. The Brown Bears won the race (7:31.27), ahead of the Wolverines (7:37.48) and Ohio State (7:39.86).
Racing will resume tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. with first varsity 4 repechage heats. Live results as well as heat sheets can be found at http://www.racetrak.com/
2003 NCAA Championships – Day 1 Ohio State Race Results First Varsity 8 – Heat 2 Team Time Princeton 6:39:50 Harvard 6:41:00 Southern California 6:41:90 Ohio State 6:42:60 Tennessee 7:01:70
Top 3 to semifinals; remainder to Repechage.
First Varsity 8 – Repechage Team Time Texas 7:09.29 Yale 7:09.43 Ohio State 7:11.46 Michigan State 7:11.83 Tennessee 7:15.10 Washington State 7:15.51 Boston University 7:17.34
Top 3 to semifinals; remainder to ‘C’ Final
Second Varsity 8 – Heat 2 Team Time California 6:52.53 Ohio State 6:58.88 Washington State 7:01.42 Stanford 7:01.44 Princeton 7:02.40 Michigan 7:07.07
Winner to semifinals; remainder to repechages
First Varsity 4 – Heat 2 Team Time Brown 7:31.27 Michigan 7:37.48 Ohio State 7:39.86 Yale 7:40.75 Princeton 7:41.72 Michigan State 7:47.37
Winner to semifinals; remainder to repechages
