University of Tennessee Athletics
TENNESSEE ROWING SET TO HOST EIGHTH-ANNUAL LEXUS SPRINTS
May 12, 2004 | Rowing
May 12, 2004
Heat Sheet in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - With hopes of earning an NCAA Championship bid for the second consecutive season, the Tennessee Lady Vol rowing team will compete at the Eighth-Annual Lexus Central/South Region Sprints on Melton Hill Lake in Oak Ridge, Tenn., on Saturday and Sunday, May 15 and 16. The event will feature 23 teams from the Central and South regions, including eight squads ranked in the USRowing/Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association Varsity Eight Poll. Opening heats are scheduled to get underway at 9 a.m. on Saturday with semifinals beginning at 2 p.m. Sunday's finals are slated to start at 9 a.m. and should conclude by noon.
The Lady Vols will be represented by four crews, as the varsity eight, second varsity eight, varsity four and novice eight shells will all take to the water this weekend. The novice eight crew will race in its opening heat at 9:20 a.m., followed by the varsity four shell at 10:10 a.m., the second varsity eight boat at 10:30 a.m. and the varsity eight squad at 11:10 a.m.
UT enters the competition with the nation's 13th-ranked varsity eight shell but will be challenged by the strongest field in the event's history. Other ranked crews from the South Region include Virginia (No. 7) and Texas (No. 20), while the Central Region's top representatives are Michigan (No. 3), Ohio State (No. 5), Wisconsin (No. 10), Michigan State (No. 11) and Notre Dame (No. 14). The remainder of the field includes Central Florida, Cincinnati, Clemson, Duke, Eastern Michigan, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kansas State, Louisville, Miami (Fla.), Minnesota, Murray State, North Carolina and SMU.
Last season, Ohio State claimed the Lexus Cup with 76 points, followed by Virginia (70), Michigan (67), Michigan State (58), Iowa (52) and Tennessee (43). UT's sixth-place finish was the best showing at the Sprints in program history and helped propel the varsity eight crew to a national ranking of 14th as it earned an invitation to the 2003 NCAA Championship.
