Williams Crowned Division III NCAA Champions Saturday

May 28, 2011

GOLD RIVER, Calif. – The Ephs have it. Williams College dominated racing at Lake Natoma Saturday to capture a sixth-consecutive Division III title at the 2011 NCAA Women’s Rowing Championships.

In the varsity eight final, Williams’ first boat was two seats up on Bates University at the 250-meter mark. Following a gust of wind at the 500-meter mark, the Ephs were able to build their lead and set up for a bow to stern advantage over Bates at the halfway point. Williams gained open water in the third quarter of the race and continued to push to the line, winning in a 6:54.40. Bates finished second with a time of 7:01.3 and Wellesley College crossed with a 7:02.20 in third.

“We had a solid start; we’ve been working on those all season and I think that really came together well,” said junior stroke seat Emma Pelegri-O'Day. “Once we settled down from our high 15, it was us and Bates. We continued to trade moves and push away from them. Once we got open water at the 1,100-meter mark, it was really just a question of how much open water we could get on the rest of the field.”

Also racing in the final was Williams’ second boat that finished sixth in a 7:16.56, giving the Ephs the highest combined points total of 19. Bates tallied 16 points in second, with Wellesley in third with 14 points.

Williams interim head coach Brad Hemmerly, who assisted Justin Moore for the two previous years before taking the reins this last fall, became the third Eph head coach to win the NCAA title Saturday, along with Moore and previous interim head coach Pat Tynan.

“It’s been a year-long process to get this group to this time and this place,” said Hemmerly. “Obviously, there’s been a coaching change. We just haven’t let anything affect us. We have four returning athletes from last year’s V1; we didn’t return a lot of the boat. We’ve been trying to press ourselves as much as we can all year, trying to go a fast as possible.”

Finals are set for Sunday in the Division I racing. Saturday morning’s semifinals saw a highly competitive DI field narrow.

In the first semi, Princeton University took the early lead with University of California – Berkeley just a few seats down at the 500-meter mark. University of Southern California made a move in the second quarter of the race to slip into second place. The Trojans pressed on, clocking the fastest 500-meter split times over the last half of the course and walking through the Tigers for the lead. USC finished first in a 6:26.60, followed by Princeton in a 6:28.34. Cal grabbed the last qualifying spot in a 6:31.04.

In the second semifinal, Stanford University overtook Brown University in the final sprint to win the race in a 6:21.68. After posting the fastest time of the heats Friday, Brown crossed the line second in the semi with a time of 6:22.66. Michigan State rounded out the top three with a 6:27.71.

In the DI second eights, Brown and University of Virginia set the pace in the first race. Brown led from wire to wire, posting a 6:36.90, followed by Virginia in a 6:40.34. USC edged out Princeton by just 0.04 seconds for the last qualifying spot in a 6:42.04.

Stanford’s second eight clocked the fastest time in its heat Friday and repeated with a convincing margin in the second seven-lane semifinal. The Cardinal crew had a three-second lead over Cal at the halfway point, with The Ohio State University in third. The crews held position through the sprint – Stanford crossing first in a 6:36.04, Cal second in a 6:40.25 and The Ohio State in a 6:43.89.
            
The final of the Division I fours is set following Saturday’s semifinals. The field of six crews includes Virginia, Cal, University of Wisconsin, USC, University of Washington and Stanford.

The finals of the Division II eights and fours are also set for Sunday. Western Washington University dominated both its qualifying heats Friday to advance. The Vikings are on the hunt for a record seventh-consecutive championship and face defending eight champion Mercyhurst College, Humboldt State and Nova Southeastern University in the eights final. In the DII fours final, Western, Mercyhurst and Humboldt will open the final day of racing Sunday at Lake Natoma.

Racing continues Sunday at 9 a.m. local time with Division I and II finals. For championship information and results, visit http://www.ncaa.com/championships/rowing/d1.

Highlights of the Divisions I, II and III Women’s Rowing Championships will appear on the 2011 CBS Sports Presents Championships of the NCAA (spring seasonal show), set to air Sunday, June 19 at 4 p.m. EDT.

USRowing is a nonprofit organization recognized by the United States Olympic Committee as the governing body for the sport of rowing in the United States. USRowing’s official suppliers include Boathouse Sports, Filippi, Croker Oars, Rudy Project, Concept2, Nielsen Kellerman, PowerHTV and Ludus Tours. USRowing also receives generous support from the National Rowing Foundation and its corporate sponsors, ANXeBusiness Corp and Voxer. For more information, visit www.usrowing.org. USRowing has joined forces with Team Arnstein to help ensure the U.S. Team's success leading up to the 2012 Olympic Games under a new corporate sponsorship campaign, The Row to London. For more information, please visit www.teamarnstein.com.

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Allison Frederick

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