The North Carolina rowing team got its season underway this Sunday as they traveled to New Jersey to compete in the Princeton Chase against an elite field.
What happened?
In their first event since May, the Tar Heels showed a bit of rust. They fielded three boats in the competition: a varsity A team, a varsity B team, and a novice team, with each boat experiencing different results.
The novice team put in a solid performance, finishing in a respectable eighth place out of 18 teams with a time of 17:44 over the course of the three mile race. The varsity B team earned a 47th place finish out of 59 teams in the women’s varsity final with a time of 16:14. The performance of the varsity A team, however, was disappointing, as they could only manage a 43rd place finish in the same race, finishing seven seconds before their teammates with a time of 16:07.
Who stood out?
The novice and varsity B teams both earned the praise of their coach with their performances.
“The novice boat] did really well in their first competition of the year, they provide some new fresh energy” Coach Sarah Haney said. “Second varsity were competitive, they didn’t get distracted and they kept their composure and intensity, and they beat who we were supposed to beat.”
When was it decided?
Brown’s A team boat finished first in the race with the blistering time of 14:14, with Virginia and Yale following close behind with times of 14:21 and 14:23, respectively. The Tar Heels’ varsity teams both came in about two minutes behind these teams, meaning they never really challenged for the top spot.
