This weekend, the North Carolina rowing team partook in the expanded ACC Rowing Championship. UNC took eighth place out of the eight competitors, with Virginia winning for the fifth consecutive year and seizing its 14th championship in the 15 years of the event.
The Championship took place at Lake Hartwell in Clemson, S.C. Virginia, the ACC perennial power, finished in first with a score of 80. The Tar Heels finished in last with a score of 11.
But coach Sarah Haney and her rowers didn't see the season as a failure at all.
“It’s an incredibly tough race, five of the eight teams in the competition are top-20 teams in the country,” Haney said. “We put our best forward, registered some personal records and have no regrets.”
UNC senior co-captain Maria Santoyo received personal recognition for this season — earning second-team All-ACC honors rowing in the No. 8 chair. Her focus was on the team as opposed to her personal accolades.
“Our team had never been as confident as we were this weekend,” Santoyo said. “We went out there and got closer to the top teams than we ever had before, it was a successful weekend.”
With senior leadership leaving every year, coaches and players get used to it. But when such a productive member of the team leaves, it leaves the question of who will step in.
Junior rower Ali Margherio says replacing such strong leadership is in more than one individual's hands
“They put us on a trajectory of believing in ourselves, it’s everyone duty to keep going,” Margherio said. “We need to throw everything to the wind and keep ‘rowing with it.’”
Haney said she expects the team to continue striving for greater success.
“We’re losing six strong seniors, but we have what it takes to replace them,” Haney said. “With the combination of great girls already on the team and the prospects coming in next year, I do not believe we will be taking any steps back.”
Although the season didn't end successfully as far as records and standings, the Tar Heels plan to use strong leadership and determination to keep “rowing for the dream,” as Margherio said.
Contact the desk editor at sports@dailytarheel.com
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