Rowing team starts season strong

 
The Daily Athenaeum (WVU)
5 October 2009

By John Terry
Associate Sports Editor

West Virginia head rowing coach Jimmy King liked the way his team started its season off in the Head of the Ohio in Pittsburgh.
The Mountaineers' 8+ boats finish third and sixth, respectively.

The "A" boat finished with a time of 15:35, while the "B" boat finished less than 30 seconds behind with a time of 16:02.

"It was good competition for us this weekend," King said. "It was very nice to see our two boats race within 30 seconds of each other."

King said the team was not ready at the point for a competitive race, but as the fall progresses it will continue to get in racing form.

"I use the fall to work toward the spring," King said. "It's a time where we can experiment with different combinations and lineups?'

Despite not being in competitive form, the two boats were still able to be successful. King said to have two boats finish in the top six shows the depth that the program is growing.

"This race was the first time we have been able to enter two 8+ boats in competition," said the third-year head coach. "It's extremely positive, and is a sign that we are moving in the right direction."

The afternoon session of the Head of the Ohio was canceled due to wind causing choppy water conditions.

Event officials decided to call it after a few boats were sub-merged under water because of the conditions.

King was not able to see the 4+ boats because of the cancelation. King said that the team had entered even more 4+ boats into the competition and was looking forward to seeing them race.

"It was disappointing," King said. It is something that as an outdoor water sport, we know it's going to happen from time to time. Had we gotten to see more racing, I would have been able to get more evaluations done."

Despite the cancelation, King was still very pleased with the performance of the 8s.

"We have a really strong group of seniors this season," King said. "I'm relying on them to lead the younger people on the team when it comes to work ethic and fitness."

Duquesne finished second overall in the Head of the Ohio, just four seconds ahead of West Virginia's "A" boat, and according to King, Duquesne will be a good judge of the Mountaineers progress this fall.

West Virginia will again see Duquesne in its final meet of October at the Head of the Occoquan.

"We'll see how we are closing the gap on them," King said. "In past years, we've been further behind them in time, but as we go through the fall, we usually close the gap. It helps in terms of (yearlong) development."

West Virginia will continue its fall season next weekend when it races in the Head of the Mon Regatta in Morgantown.

"We will be racing a couple schools that we didn't get to see this weekend," King said. "We won't focus on what our competitors are doing but instead try to figure out was we can do better."

john.terry@mail.wvu.edu