Abbotsford, BC…The UFV Cascades men’s and women’s rowing team competed last weekend at the 2012 Canadian University Rowing Championships, hosted by UBC, at Burnaby Lake and both teams finished in the CURC top ten. The women placed 8th moving up two spots from 2011 with 34 team points and the men 9th up one from last year’s championship with 21 team points.
The program finally broke its long-running streak this weekend with both teams accomplishing their goals. Despite the wet, soggy weather, excitement reigned on the water at Burnaby Lake as 20 university teams gathered for their national championship.
“We made UFV history this weekend, in some key races,” commented UFV head coach Liz Chisholm. On the men’s side two boats stood out, the men’s 2-(pair) and lightweight men’s 2x(double). Mat Morrison, and Scott Micona, were seeded 7th after Saturday’s time trials, a half second separated them from University of Calgary, University of Guelph, University of Manitoba, and SFU. Right from the start today, Mat and Scott got right out in front, and dominated down the 2000m course with Calgary and Guelph trading off attempts to get close to them, to no avail. The Cascades pair finished with open water, and a full 10 seconds ahead of the 2nd place crew Guelph.” These two young guys have been pounding it on the water every morning, and their determination and commitment definitely paid off. They showed courage today and a belief in their training, I’m very proud of them,” said Chisholm.
The lightweight duo of Antony Dayton and Emmett Campbell, had a job ahead of them in this very competitive men’s race. They came into the finals today seeded 8th, by less than half a second, but weren’t able to hold that placing today. “The boys were just a little off on some parts of their race today; but they’re a strong duo, and hung on well, placing 9th.”
The women’s team showed real heart this weekend. The lightweight women had a couple of discouraging results, but there was lot of teamwork from this hard-working crew. The stroke seat in the women’s pair sustained an injury in the earlier women’s 8+ race, and a decision was made to sub in one of the other women from the 8+. Jocelyn Woelke and Debra Neufeld got out on the course, somewhat late after some quick adjustments in the boat. “Jocelyn really stepped up her game this weekend. This was a difficult thing to do. It meant Debra had to switch the side she was rowing in the boat, but after a few small changes to the boat,” said Chisholm. “We were able to have Jocelyn race instead of the now-injured Genevieve Santos. They raced with guts, and to move up two placing’s from their boat’s original seeding was truly remarkable, going from 10th to 8th place was very exciting and a treat to watch.”
Courtesy: Liz Chisholm
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