Three Rowers Earn First-Place Finishes At Indoor Championships
July 11, 2000 | Rowing
February 12, 2000
CINCINNATI, Ohio - Three members of the University of Louisville rowing team picked up first-place finishes Saturday at the Indoor Rowing Championships in Cincinnati.
In the College Women's Novice race, Sheila Cornelius and Lisa Frederick both came from behind to pass an Indiana rower at the finish to tie for first place. Cornelius and Frederick rowed the 2000m race in 7:29.8, edging the IU rower by one-tenth of a second.
Melissa Campbell (7:31.4), Kristin Pittman (7:36.6) and Anna Dotson (7:38.3) placed fifth, seventh and eighth, respectively, to round out the Cardinals' top-10 finishers.
In the College Novice Lightweight race, Laura Scherberger raced to a first-place finish with a time of 7:32.1, nearly 22 seconds faster than the second-place finisher. Kelly Drescher came in with a time of 7:57.4 to place third for the Cards.
"I am beside myself with the team's performance today," said head coach Julio Viyella. "I was pleasantly surprised by our times. Virtually everyone exceeded her goal times for the day."
U of L's Beth Toner finished third in the Coxswain Women's 1000m race with a time of 4:12.8. Other Cardinal finishers were Ashley Brown (10th), Carrie Kalbfleisch (12th) and Michelle McCombs (13th).
In the finale of the day, five Cardinal teams dominated the 4-Oared Event, which entailed four rowers each racing 500m.
"The 4-oared event was simply for fun, with a splash of competitiveness to round up a tremendously successful day," said Viyella. "The results today gives us a tremendous feeling for what awaits us this spring."
The erg races at the competition consisted of individuals on rowing machines racing against each other. Video monitors were used so that participants could see where they stood during each race.
The Cards will begin their spring season with a week of training in Winter Park, Fla., in mid-March, culminating with the Rollins Spring Training Regatta on the 18th.
