Cardinal Rowing Turns Focus to Sunday's BIG EAST Championships
April 27, 2007 | Rowing
April 27, 2007
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The University of Louisville rowing program's top varsity and novice crews will travel to Worcester, Mass., for Sunday's BIG EAST Championships on Lake Quinsigamond.
The event, which will begin at 8:30 a.m. ET with six trial races and continue with the first of nine petite and grand championship races at 11:30 a.m., will feature Varsity 8+ and 4+ races, 2nd Varsity 8+ and 4+ races and Novice 8+ and 4+ races. The Cards enter the weekend ranked 18th in the latest USRowing/CRCA Varsity 8+ Top 20 poll.
"Training has been aggressive in preparation for the BIG EAST Championships and the South/Central Regional in two weeks," said U of L head coach Richard Ruggieri. "It's our hope to continue to learn more about our racing, preparation and training with the goal of performing at our best. We will certainly be challenged in all six events from a variety of programs leaving us better prepared as we move into the final stages of the season."
The Cards will open the day's events in the second of two Varsity 8+ trials at 8:40 a.m., followed by the first of two Varsity 4+ trials at 8:50 a.m., and the first of two Novice 8+ trials at 9:10 a.m. The six event finals will begin at 11:30 a.m. with the Novice 4+ Grand Final and will conclude with the Varsity 8+ Grand Final at 12:50 p.m. The BIG EAST champion will be determined by total points scored from the six racing events.
"I'm confident we will come out of this regatta with areas of success as well as areas needing improvement," Ruggieri said. "It will be up to our coaches and rowers to identify these areas and push forward through the home stretch. We all look forward to the challenges of racing and the competition which awaits."
This season has included several strong wins for the Cards, including Varsity 8+ wins over Minnesota, currently ranked eighth in the nation, and California, ranked 12th this week. U of L also has Varsity 4+ and Novice 8+ wins over Tennessee and a 2nd Varsity 8+ win over Stanford this spring.
Following this weekend's BIG EAST Championships, the Cards will have a week off from competition before returning to action at the NCAA South/Central Region Championships on May 12-13 in Oak Ridge, Tenn.
BIG EAST Championships - Worcester, Mass.Sunday Racing Schedule
Trial Races8:30 a.m. Varsity 8+8:40 a.m. Varsity 8+8:50 a.m. Varsity 4+9:00 a.m. Varsity 4+9:10 a.m. Novice 8+9:20 a.m. Novice 8+
Finals11:30 a.m. Novice 4+ Grand11:40 a.m. 2nd Varsity 4+ Grand11:50 a.m. Novice 8+ Petite12:00 p.m. Novice 8+ Grand12:10 p.m. Varsity 4+ Petite12:20 p.m. Varsity 4+ Grand12:30 p.m. 2nd Varsity 8+ Grand12:40 p.m. Varsity 8+ Petite12:50 p.m. Varsity 8+ Grand
