Cardinals Win Gold, Silver At Lexus Central Sprints
July 10, 2000 | Rowing
May 14, 2000
OAK RIDGE, Tenn. - The University of Louisville women's rowing team completed its inaugural season of intercollegiate competition by winning a gold and a silver medal over the weekend at the Lexus Central Sprints.
The two-day, 18-team event was held on Melton Lake in Oak Ridge, Tenn.
In the Second Novice 8+ competition, Louisville, which was seeded second of five entries, overcame the odds and won the gold medal. The Cardinals finished in 7:17.3, eight seconds ahead of runner-up and top-seeded Duke. Michigan State, Tennessee and Notre Dame rounded out the top five teams.
"It was a joy to watch our Second Freshman/Novice crew race down the course," said U of L assistant coach Dawn Scott-Viyella. "They got off the starting line so fast that no other crew saw them for the remainder of the race. Every move that Duke made was responded to by a Louisville crew that knew they were going to win."
In the First Novice 8+ competition, the Cardinals rolled through Saturday's first heat and semifinals with victories before finishing second to Duke University in the Sunday's Grand Final.
The Cards, who were seeded first among the 13 entries, rowed the 2000m final in 6:51.7, just 1.3 seconds behind the first-place Blue Devils. Iowa (7:01.8) placed third, followed by Clemson, Notre Dame and Indiana.
Louisville finishes the successful inaugural season with a total of six gold, seven silver and three bronze medals in eight regattas during the course of the year.
Furthermore, the two Cardinal Novice 8+ teams went unbeaten in five head-to-head races this spring, with wins over Florida, Notre Dame, Indiana, Ohio State and Clemson.
"This past weekend's racing summed up what was an incredible season for our team," said head coach Julio Viyella. "The way both crews raced down the course demonstrated an entire season's worth of productive learning and training. Given the speed in the Central Region, our crews can definitely be categorized as being among the fastest freshman/novice crews in the country, a goal that was stated at the very beginning of the season."
