Daily Atheneum
27 April 2007
By Jessica Carloss
The West Virginia University women's rowing team is preparing for a weekend in Worchester, Mass., where it will compete on Sunday.
The varsity team secured the No. 2 seed going into the Big East Championship after a successful weekend in Oakridge, Tenn., where it competed in the
Southern Intercollegiate Rowing Association, placing first in the finals on Sunday. With a time of 7:39.9 the Mountaineers finished several seconds ahead of the nationally ranked Central Florida.
Head rowing coach Nancy LaRocque was impressed with the entire team which had a victorious weekend at SIRA, but looks at the varsity four-boat to finish first this upcoming weekend.
"Although they are young, they have a lot of experience," said LaRocque, referring to the four-boat team, who finished first in the 2,000-meter finals at SIRA. Heading the team is sophomore Carla Edwards, who will set the pace of the race, as the coxswain for the four talented freshmen rowers, Kim Benda, Brittany Brooks, Kensie
Phillips and Caroline Rettig. This past weekend gave the girls the confidence and experience they will need to do well in the championship this coming weekend, according to LaRocque. The four-boat will compete in the 2,000-meter race against nine other Big East schools, including No. 1-ranked Notre Dame.
For the first time, last weekend, LaRocque took a chance and rowed them together as a four-boat, and as soon as they started the race they just clicked.
"Each time with my crew we just keep getting better, plus the girls are really hard-working, which makes it easy for me," said coxswain Edwards.
In preparation for the weekend, LaRocque had the team on the river at 5 a.m., competing in race workouts and other practice drills that kept the team focused on the weekend event.
Going into the tournament as the No. 2 seed doesn't faze Edwards.
"The rank doesn't matter going into the race. You have less than eight minutes to prove yourself out there and you have only one shot," she said.
The last time the Mountaineers won the Big East Championship was in 2001, but LaRocque feels confident in the team's ability to take home the gold this year in the 2,000-meter. "My girls are really determined to win this race," said Edwards.
Although the beginning of the season started off slow, LaRocque is hoping her team will have a strong finish at the championships this weekend.