WVU Rowing: Boat 'A' Takes First at Head of Mon
The Daily Athenaeum (WVU)
13 October 2009
By John Terry
Associate Sports Editor
The success the West Virginia rowing team had this past weekend at the
Head of the Mon showed head coach Jimmy King that the program is
starting to
build depth.
While the third-year head coach admits the depth of the program is
still far from where he wants it to be, the program continues to make
strides.
The Mountaineers won titles in two of the three events at the Head of
the Mon, which was held in Morgantown.
WVU's "A" boat won the title in the open eight competition with a time
of 19:23.00
The "B" boat for West Virginia finished in fourth place with a time of
20:06.00.
"Our results in the 8+S and the 4+S confirm our belief that we have a
deeper team, which certainly provides a stronger base upon which we
will build this year," King said in a release.
"However, we need to make sure we're continually working to get better
within every facet of our program."
The times for both boats were slower than the Mountaineers' times at
the Head of the Ohio in Pittsburgh Oct. 3.
However, King is not concerned with the times because he uses the fall
season to experiment with different lineups.
"I'm not concerned about trying to put out the fastest combinations I
can at this point in the year," King said. "It's more about trying to
find out what speed comes of different combinations.
"I'm trying to get some hardworking individuals more opportunities. I
want to reward people who have been working hard."
In the 4+ competition, the Mountaineers had three of their boats finish
in the top six with times of 0:21:04, 0:21:23 and 0:21:40.
West Virginia went up against Dayton and George Washington - two teams
it could see in the more competitive spring
season.
West Virginia will conclude its fall season when it heads to Fairfax,
Va., for the Head of the Occoquan Oct. 31.
"We just have to focus on the process," King said. "While we want to
win, we focus more of what we need to go on through the course of
racing. There are some things we have to do to make us successful."
john.terry@mail.wvu.edu