After a few days of coaches watching crews from the banks, teams getting used to the commutes to and from their hotels, and boats getting weighed, it was finally down to racing on the Cooper today.
In a speed sport like rowing, how it goes often comes down to the speed you brought with you, rather than any dramatic last-minute shots or miracle catches of course, and by the end of the day, the top-seeded crews had done what they needed to do to make the next round of racing and set the stage for Saturday.
For D1, that's the semis and with the top 12 crews having to race full out on this first day thanks to the new D1 progression that eliminated the reps--and no one having to factor in an extra 2k with a trip through a rep--there is a nice bit of suspense for Saturday's semis and seeing just how fast 12 equally rested crews can go.
D2 and D3 will settle their Championships Saturday, so their day was all about setting those fields, and getting a sense of which crews can make a run at it in the Grand Finals.
Racing started with D3, then D1, and then D2.
You can skip ahead to the updated heat sheets here to see the Saturday draw for the D1 semis and the lanes for the D2 and D3 Championships.
D3 Racing: Heats & Reps
D3 coaches regularly, and rightly, point to just how competitive their championship has become: despite long runs in the past by Williams (9 titles) and Bates (5), it really feels of late that a number of teams could win it on the day. Last year fully six schools made it to Saturday with a shot at the title, and Wellesley won the team with two silvers, while WPI and Bates took the 1V and 2V wins respectively. The racing today suggests we may be on our way to a similar scenario this year.
While Wellesley, that 2022 champ and top seed in the 1V, did win both of their heats today to take a strong position, one of those wins came in a race that illustrated the depth of field perfectly.
The first heat of the D3 2V eight--the very first race of the entire regatta as it happens--featured 5th seeded Williams pushing the pace early, and then #3 Wellesley coming on late to win it, sending the top seed, Wesleyan, to the afternoon repechage.
In fact, across all four D3 heats, the third-seeded crew took one of the top two spots, to include Wesleyan 1V winning outright ahead of 3 seed Tufts in a race that put #2 Williams in the reps.
Even with an extra race on the legs of the crews that went to the reps, we saw a few close margins here that suggest anything could happen when the final six crews face off in each Grand Final tomorrow.
After the dust settled on the morning session, Wellesley head coach Tessa Spillane called it, "great racing from the D3 field."
"We are really proud to be a part of it," Spillane added, saying that, "generally our crews are pretty pleased about our racing this morning and the group is looking forward to finals tomorrow."
Wesleyan head coach Pat Tynan, whose team traded upsets but collected that one in the 1V, the boat that matters just a bit more in the points race, told row2k that:
"The D3 Racing is as competitive as ever and we're glad to be in that mix. Our varsity 8 did a really nice job and they have continued to get faster."
"The 2V field is also very tight," he added, during the break before the afternoon repechage round, "and we'll have another opportunity to blend and refine this afternoon."
Tynan's 2V did make it through, taking second in the rep behind Bates, while in the 1V rep, Williams and Bates, in that order, made the final. Just like last year, that makes six schools with both boats in the Grands, so the top six team spots will get settled head to head in the Grands tomorrow.
D1 Racing: Just the Heats, Please
Washington put up the surprise of the morning when their varsity eight edged in front of the #1 seed Princeton, but both crews were secure in their spots for tomorrow's AB Semis. The two had not raced each other this year and it was a good battle down the course that resulted in the fastest heat of the morning.
In the other heats, Texas, Stanford and Pennsylvania won, as their seeding predicted, with the Quakers putting up a margin against Yale very similar to the one they used to win silver ahead of Yale at the Ivy League Champs. Texas looked comfortable and in charge, but Stanford's 1V put down the ominous combo of a fast time, just a smidge ahead of Princeton's, and the biggest margin at some nine seconds over Cal. When a crew goes fast without being pushed, they are likely very dangerous, and on form. Another arrow in Stanford's quiver? Their 2V rounded into form here as well, grabbing a four second win over the Washington crew which beat them at Pac-12s two weeks ago.
At the end of the D1 racing, only Texas and Stanford had picked up wins in all three of their heats so, while there is a lot of racing left, the two teams that tied on points at the last two Championships would seem to be on a collision course again this year. The other schools with all three boats through to the A/B Semis and, thus, still alive in the chase for the championship: Washington, Princeton, Yale, Brown, Virginia, Michigan, California, and SMU.
"Day one is complete, and we did what we were looking to do," Texas head coach Dave O'Neill told texassports.com. "These three days can be a real grind, so it was good to have all boats race in control and win their heats. Tomorrow will be a big day, so we need to be prepared for what's ahead."
Eliminating the repechages altogether in favor of a straight three-to-qualify progression this year could have created some exciting battles for third but we did not see too many of those. Apart from a few crews that gave it a go--like the Rutgers 1V going hard off the line to hold third in the early going of Heat 1, and Ohio State's 1V clinging relentlessly to the stern of third-place Brown--there was ultimately not all that much drama, nor any misadventures that would have made a favorite wish the reps were still around. In the end, the rep round probably won't be missed, and the rest of the racing might be the better for it now that none of the crews in tomorrow's A/B Semis needed to pull another 2k to get there.
Penn coach Wesley Ng talked about how the "no rep" format felt for his team:
"Anytime there is a change to a regatta progression, there is some trepidation about having a slightly different approach. With no reps, you must trust your preparation and go for it. It's a very different feel and approach than last year's regatta, and I think our group has worked hard to earn that."
In fact there were really only two races for third that went to the line (almost) and only one was an upset, where a boat seeded in the top 12 missed out: Michigan's 13th seeded 2V knocked out #12 Duke, helping the Wolverines end the morning as one of those ten teams to put all three crews into the A/B Semis. In the other, the Ohio State four survived a run from Syracuse, a result will have an impact on the final standings s well: it gave Ohio State, who also advanced in the 2V eight, a second boat through the A/B Semis, but left Syracuse with just one, their 1V.
Washington head coach Yaz Farooq was pleased with the morning: her Huskies got the 1V win, and took second in the 2V, to Stanford, and the Four, to Yale.
"I am really proud of how our boats executed on day one and we're looking forward to the semi's," Farooq told row2k. "It's awesome to see everybody back at full strength now after two years of COVID. The field may be its deepest yet. That's what makes the NCAA's so exciting and I think we all know that tomorrow is going to be super competitive across the board."
If a lot of the schools in this report sound familiar, they should: the D1 field is nearly exactly the same as last year, with the exception of Indiana and Navy, who both made a return this year, and the sole first-time team across all three Divisions, A-10 champ George Washington. The squad from GW has made the most of their NCAA appearance so far: coming from behind to pip Navy in the 1V and beating Jacksonville in the 2V. Not a bad debut--and maybe even worth the hours of I-95 traffic their boats sat in on what should have been a quick trip up from DC.
D2 Racing: Heats & Reps
The battle for the D2 crown is shaping up to be a two school race again this year, but this time it will be teams from the West throwing down: Cal Poly Humboldt and Central Oklahoma. It also looks like it might just become a continuation of the tight racing the top four seeds in D2 had just two weeks ago at the GNAC Conference Championship two weeks ago.
Humboldt and UCO took care of business and won out in the morning, going straight to the finals with both of their crews. For Central Oklahoma, that was the racing going according to script: as the 2 seed in the eight and the 1 seed in the four, they were the boat to beat in each of their heats.
Humboldt, however, was only the three seed in the four, after taking third at the GNAC by just two-hundredths of a second to Western Washington and, in many ways, their hopes of winning a third championship were riding on whether that four could rise to the occasion and support the Lumberjack's top seeded eight.
So, when the Humboldt four broke away from Western Washington in today's rematch, it was a tremendous boost to the title hopes of the team.
"I thought that our crews raced well this morning," said Matt Weise, who is in his third year coaching at Humboldt and helped them earn their way back to the NCAAs for the first time since 2015.
"It was fairly gusty and we handled that well. I think that their performance in the heats will give them even greater energy for the finals tomorrow."
Both Humboldt and Central Oklahoma will have some more business to take care of tomorrow to put their team back on the winners step of the podium, to include of course, how they can do against each other--and after the repechage round in the afternoon, it will be fellow GNAC school Seattle Pacific joining them to battle it out for the title in the two 4-boat D2 Finals, along with Embry-Riddle who earned their way back into the Eights final ahead of Western Washington in the reps. Western Washington will be the fourth crew in the Fours final, after winning an exciting rep just ahead of Seattle Pacific and a hard-charging Jefferson four.
Notes From The Course
Sister Acts - Last year, we noted that we had two McGee sisters racing at NCAAs, thanks to a tip from their uncle, Syracuse Head Coach Luke McGee. Thus year Jane (Texas) and Kate (Virginia) are back, and could face each other again in the Four like they did last year in the Semis. This year, they are not alone in pulling off the Sisters Act: we got a tip about the O'Connor sisters, Grace in the Northeastern 1V and Lauren in the Rutgers 2V. How many more pairs of sisters are racing here? We'll see what we can find out.
Cowbells Are Back! - It's been a minute since we've heard cowbells at NCAAs, but they were loud and proud today. The NCAA's Rowing Championship Manual has had a rule about "no artificial noisemakers" since 2008 or thereabouts, so we gotta ask: Did they change the rules or do the Jersey fans just not care?
Hot Mic at the Finish? Folks watching the livestream at home told us they heard some things on the open microphone that, we guess, was being used to catch the cheering of the crowds: during racing, though, it also caught some laughing, someone saying something about a log on the course, the starter calling the crews to the line, and even the finish line officials talking to one another--at least when the whole show wasn't getting drowned out by the cowbells.
Otto the Orange Onsite - Otto must be credentialed as an official part of the Syracuse travel party because, fresh off his appearance in this week's row2k Recap, he was spotted in the boat yard this morning; after all, he is hard to miss, so surely someone checked for a wristband.
A 'Worlds' Class Boat Yard - the boat park down below the finish looks a bit different than it does at most regattas we cover here on the Cooper: nothing in the boatyard but, well, boats, and rows of uniform white tents for each school to use for their team area. All the trailers and trucks are parked around the lake over at the Yacht Club, so despite it still being recognizable as the dusty Camden trailer area, it looks a bit more like the boatyard at a World Championships.
Comments | Log in to comment |
There are no Comments yet
|
row2k's NCAA coverage is brought to you in part by:
row2k's NCAA coverage is brought to you in part by: