Ohio State Advances to Two Grand Finals at NCAA Championships – Ohio State Buckeyes
5/26/2007 12:00:00 AM | Rowing
May 26, 2007
OAK RIDGE, Tenn. – The Ohio State rowing team advanced to two Grand Finals of the NCAA championships Saturday, with the first and second varsity eight crews qualifying for the top races of the event. OSU, Brown and Virginia are the only three schools to have made it into both the first and second varsity eight Grand Finals. The Buckeye first varsity four will race in the Petite Final.
The 2007 NCAA Championships are being held on Melton Hill Lake in Oak Ridge, Tenn., with the University of Tennessee playing host to the three-day event. All three NCAA Divisions (I, II and III) are competing at the regatta for their respective national titles.
After an hour delay to the start of the events because of debris on the water, the fifth-ranked Ohio State first varsity eight boat of Claudia Wurzel (Fr., Como, Italy), Zuzanna Trzcinska (So., Ilawa, Poland), Patricia Goodeman (Sr., Waterville, Ohio), Susanne Herbrand (So., Magdeburg, Germany), Gabriele Albertaviciute (Jr., Vilnius, Lithuania), Jessica Shepherd (Sr., Richmond, Ohio), Annabelle Fago (Sr., Giessen, Germany), Briony Clare (Sr., Sydney, Australia) and coxswain Susie Wilson (Sr., Fredericktown, Ohio) raced in the second semifinal against No. 1 USC, who came into the national championships undefeated, No. 3 Virginia, No. 6 Notre Dame, No. 7 Stanford and No. 10 Tennessee. In a race that was closely battled throughout the 2,000 meters, four teams pulled away in the middle 1,000 meters with the Buckeyes, Notre Dame, USC and Virginia in a fight to finish in the Top 3 to advance to the Grand Final. Ohio State dug deep in the final 500-meter sprint, with a split time of 1:38.44, to take second in the race with a total time of 6:28.28.
The Buckeyes finished just under a second behind the top-ranked Trojans to move into the Grand Finals along with the Cavaliers at 6:28.64. Ohio State will compete against the Ivy League’s Yale, Brown and Princeton as well. It is the fourth-consecutive NCAA Grand Final appearance for the Ohio State 1V8 and the Buckeyes and Princeton are the only two Division I varsity eight crews to make it to the Grand Finals five of the last six years.
The OSU second varsity eight crew of Andrea Dymalski (Jr., Bremen, Germany), Nora Franzen (Fr., Bad Honnef, Germany), Giulia Benedetti (Sr., Columbus, Ohio), Simone Haubner (Jr., Leipzig, Germany), Jackie Ruetenik (Sr., Vermillion, Ohio), Justine Mahler (Sr., Cincinnati, Ohio), Mary Sheehan (Sr., Johnstown, Pa.), Mackenzie Hiltbrand (Sr., Upper Arlington, Ohio) and Kate Hanseman (Jr., Cincinnati, Ohio) competed in the first repechage of their event, looking for a Top 2 finish to advance to the Grand Final.
The Buckeyes started out in fourth place and battled up to second in the second 500 meters before taking the lead over the five-boat field and holding it for the remaining 1,000 meters. Ohio State clocked in with a time of 6:40.93 to move to the Grand Final along with California who finished second at 6:42.22. It is the third 2V8 Grand Final for the Buckeyes in as many years and, along with Cal, they will race against Brown, Minnesota, Virginia and Washington Sunday morning.
The OSU first varsity four raced in the second repechage of its division. The crew of Erin Shropshire (Fr, Cincinnati, Ohio), Katie Flarida (Fr., Lima, Ohio), Johnna Burns (Fr., Napoleon, Ohio), Sara Wallace (So., Lebanon, Ohio) and coxswain Chelsea Smith (So., Dublin, Ohio) started strong, standing at third through the first 500 meters. The Buckeyes then dropped back to fifth where they would finish with a time of 7:46.90 to move to the Petite Final. Yale (7:33.20) and Washington (7:35.31) took first and second to advance to the Grand Finals. In the Petite Final, Ohio State will face Harvard, Minnesota, Notre Dame, Tennessee and USC.
Ohio State’s Sunday race schedule will begin with the first varsity four Petite Final at 10:15 a.m., followed by the second varsity eight Grand Final at 11 a.m. The Division I Grand Final for the first varsity eight concludes the NCAA championships at 11:45 a.m. Live timing and video links are available online through the OSU rowing schedule page at ohiostatebuckeyes.com.
2007 NCAA Championships
Day 2 Results: Semifinals and Repechages
Melton Hill Lake, Oak Ridge, Tenn.
FIRST VARSITY EIGHT
Semifinal 2
1. USC 6:27.29
2. Ohio State 6:28.28
3. Virginia 6:28.64
4. Notre Dame 6:29.56
5. Tennessee 6:33.57
6. Stanford 6:40.16
SECOND VARSITY EIGHT
Repechage 1
1. Ohio State 6:40.93
2. California 6:42.22
3. Yale 6:42.78
4. Harvard 6:46.95
5. Princeton 6:59.13
FIRST VARSITY FOUR
Repechage 2
1. Yale 7:33.20
2. Washington 7:35.31
3. Minnesota 7:37.16
4. Notre Dame 7:46.61
5. Ohio State 7:46.90
