University of Tennessee Athletics
LADY VOLS SET TO HOST SEVENTH-ANNUAL LEXUS SPRINTS
May 14, 2003 | Rowing
May 14, 2003
Lexus Sprints Notes in PDF Format
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KNOXVILLE, Tenn.
The University of Tennessee Lady Vols are set to host the seventh-annual Lexus Sprints, at which top teams from around the Central and South regions will compete for the coveted Lexus Cup. The event takes place from May 17-18 on Melton Hill Lake in nearby Oak Ridge, and features a record-sized field of 21 squads.
This year's Lexus Sprints will see seven teams ranked in the USRowing/CRCA Varsity Eight Coaches Top 20 Poll descend on Oak Ridge. Highly rated Central Region crews include No. 7 Michigan, No. 10 Ohio State, No. 11 Michigan State and No. 15 Iowa. The South Region, meanwhile, has three top-20 crews entering the competition, including No. 12 Virginia, No. 17 Texas and No. 19 Tennessee.
The Lady Vols will face a total of eight South Region foes at the competition, including Clemson, Duke, Louisville, Miami (Fla.), North Carolina, SMU, Texas and Virginia. Two of those squads, Clemson and Louisville, competed against the Lady Vols in dual meets earlier in the spring. On April 27 in Clemson, S.C., UT swept four races from the host Tigers, winning the varsity 8+, 2nd varsity 8+, varsity 4+ and novice 8+ events. Louisville traveled to Knoxville on March 29, when the Orange and White claimed a win in the varsity 8+ by more than 10 seconds over the Cardinals.
The Central Region, meanwhile, sends 12 competitors to the Volunteer State, as Cincinnati, Eastern Michigan, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kansas State, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Notre Dame, Ohio State and Tulsa all square off for the Lexus Cup. The Wolverines have claimed the Lexus Cup as team champion in each of the last four years. The only other school to claim the event's team title is Virginia, which did so in 1997 and 1998.
While the 21 teams competing at the Sprints will each be vying for the coveted Lexus Cup, the squads will also be hoping to improve their chances at making the NCAA Women's Rowing Championships. The field is one of the most difficult to make in the NCAA's list of sponsored sports, as only 12 full teams are selected to compete in the championships, which includes one automatic bid from each of the five regions. Each of those 12 teams fields a 1st varsity 8+ boat, a 2nd varsity 8+ boat and a varsity 4+ boat at NCAAs. In addition, four varsity 8+ shells will be selected from institutions not represented in the team competition.
The NCAA Division I Women's Rowing Committee selects participants, which will include one team from each of the five regions as well as seven at-large bids. The 2003 NCAA Championships will be held from May 30-June 1 at Eagle Creek Park in Indianapolis, Ind.
