Ithaca Wins Women's Crew National Championship
May 29, 2004
From Ithaca Sports Information Release
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Ithaca College has won the 2004 women's crew national championship. The Bombers recorded the lowest score at the NCAA Championships, held at Lake Natoma in Sacramento, Calif., helped by a first-place finish by the varsity 8 boat in the grand final and an unprecedented performance by the second varsity 8 boat. The national title is the first for the Bomber women's crew program; Ithaca had placed third in each of the previous two NCAA Division III championship events.
Ithaca advanced both its boats to Saturday's grand final race; the varsity 8 won its heat on Friday to earn a spot in the grand final while the second varsity 8 boat won a repechage race (after placing fourth in its heat) to qualify for the grand final race. The Bombers' performance marked the first time in the three years of Division III championship competition that a second varsity eight boat qualified for the grand final.
In the grand final, Ithaca's varsity 8 boat overcame an early lead by Smith's varsity 8 to win the race. Smith (who entered nationals as the nation's top-ranked varsity 8) held the lead at the quarter, halfway and three-quarter marks of the race, leading the Bombers by over a second. Ithaca, who stood third at the one-quarter mark, took the lead in the race's final 500 meters, posting a winning time of 7:00.80. Smith followed in 7:00.90, with the varsity 8 boat from Williams third in 7:02.30. The varsity 8 boats from Puget Sound and Coast Guard placed fourth and fifth with respective times of 7:03.40 and 7:05.40. Ithaca's second varsity 8 boat placed sixth in 7:07.10.
"If I were writing this myself, I couldn't have written a better finish," said Coach Becky Robinson. "The second varsity 8 overachieved to reach the grand final and the varsity 8 overachieved to beat Smith - Watching it unfold was just incredible."
In Friday's competition, Ithaca's varsity 8 won its heat to qualify for the grand final. The Bombers trailed throughout the race before pulling ahead in the final quarter of the race, posting a winning time of 7:14.50. The varsity 8 from Trinity (Conn.) placed second in 7:16.20, with Williams' varsity 8 third in 7:17.90.
Friday's second heat saw the Ithaca second varsity 8 boat place fourth in 7:34.50, trailing three varsity 8 boats (Smith, who advanced to the grand final with a winning time of 7:11,16, Puget Sound in 7:12.66 and Coast Guard in 7:28.57). The Bombers then moved into Friday's repechage round, which determined the other four boats to qualify for the grand final. Ithaca trailed Coast Guard's varsity 8 throughout the race, but edged Coast Guard (7:59.00 to 7:59.40) to win the race and advance to the grand final. In the three years that the NCAA has conducted a Division III national championship event, the Bombers are the only second varsity 8 to reach the grand final.
The petite final, which determines places seven through 12, was won by Trinity's varsity 8 (Ithaca's second varsity 8 had won the 2003 petite final). Following the race, Ithaca's varsity 8 needed to finish first or second to clinch the overall national championship. Robinson, a 1988 Ithaca graduate and member of the 1991 U.S. National Rowing Team, described the boat's come-from-behind win as "icing on the cake".
"We've really been emphasizing the second half of the race, especially the third 500 meters which mentally is the toughest part of the race. We spent the last three weeks working on the sprint and it paid off - the varsity 8 won in the last 40 strokes."
"The two boats were so excited to be in the grand final together," said Robinson. "It was a real team effort -- By getting to the grand final, the second varsity 8 really set it up and took some of the pressure off so that the varsity 8 didn't have to win the grand final [because a school's final score comes from adding together both boats' finish, Ithaca would have won the national title with at least a second-place finish by the varsity 8]."
The Bombers were making their sixth appearance in the NCAA Rowing Championship, which was first contested in 1997. That year Ithaca's entry -- a women's four -- placed 10th of 16 teams. A year later, Ithaca qualified a varsity eight for the national championship. In 2001 the Bombers competed at the NCAA Championships for the third time. Two years ago Ithaca competed in the NCAA's first Division III Rowing Championship (the previous national championship events had included schools from all three divisions) and the Bombers tied for third. Ithaca also finished third last spring.
The Bombers' varsity 8 posted an undefeated regular season for the first time ever this spring. The boat was made up of senior coxswain Catherine Gloo (Herkimer/Herkimer), senior stroke Leslie Nichols (Conestoga/Berwyn, Pa.), sophomore seventh seat Heather Luke (Charles W. Baker/Baldwinsville), sophomore sixth seat Stacey Bowen (Marple Newtown/Broomall, Pa.), sophomore fifth seat Stephanie Knabe (Jackson/Jackson, Minn.), junior fourth seat Meghan Musnicki (Canandaigua Academy/Naples) junior third seat Jess Selock (General Douglas MacArthur/Levittown), senior second seat Nora Lahr (Ithaca/Ithaca), and junior bow Jill Moler (Westbrook/Westbrook, Conn.).
The second varsity 8, which did not lose to another boat all year until the NCAA Championships (and never lost to a second varsity 8 entry), posted a second straight gold-medal performance at the ECAC championship. The boat was made up of senior coxswain Jess Doolittle (Fayetteville-Manlius/ Fayetteville), junior stroke Kristin Keller (Ithaca/Ithaca), junior seventh seat Trinity Bigford (Kearsarge Regional/Bradford, N. H.), sophomore sixth seat Emma Flemer (Home School/ Weaverville, N. C.), junior fifth seat Robyn McCann (Allison Park/Allison Park, Pa.), senior fourth seat Apryl Seeley (Rockland/ Rockland, Mass.), sophomore third seat Sarah Kuebler (Fairview/Fairview, Pa.), junior second seat Jacy McFall (Nyack/ New Windsor) and junior bow Allyson Benvenuti (Newmarket/Newmarket, N.H.).
The national championship is the 14th won by Ithaca College and the second in three years (the Bombers won the 2002 NCAA softball championship). Ithaca has also won NCAA titles in football (three), wrestling (three), baseball (two), women's soccer (two) and field hockey (one); the 1998 gymnastics team won the National Collegiate Gymnastics Association championship.