University of Tennessee Athletics
UT Travels to Head of the Charles Regatta
October 19, 2007 | Rowing
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. ??? The University of Tennessee women???s rowing team continues its fall schedule this weekend, traveling to Boston, Mass. for the prestigious Head of the Charles Regatta. The varsity squad will compete in three races at the event which is the world???s largest regatta, featuring over 7,500 athletes.
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Meanwhile, the novice team will compete in its first race of the fall season on Saturday at the Head of the Tennessee Regatta in Knoxville.
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After taking gold in three of the four races they competed in last weekend at the Chattanooga Head Race, the Lady Vols will be looking to improve upon their program-best performances at the Head of the Charles last season. At the 2006 event, UT finished first in the Club 8+?? race and seventh in the Championship 8+ event. Before last season, an Orange and White shell had never finished higher than 10th in the Championship Eight race. UT will also be looking for its third consecutive gold medal and fifth overall in the Club 8+ event after winning in both 2005 and 2006.
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Tennessee will start off the event with the Club 8+ race on Saturday at 1:15 p.m. Last weekend???s second-place eight boat of sophomore coxswain Sydney Newman, freshmen Rachel Dooley, Ruth Waldrop and Melissa Toms, sophomores Laura Miller and Stephanie Hunley, junior Alex Shishkov and senior Marisa Mohan will team up again this weekend. Collins was a part of the 2006 gold medal Club 8+ shell. The Lady Vols will be seeking Tennessee???s fifth gold in program history in the Club 8+ event at the Head of the Charles.
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Sunday, the Orange and White kick off the day in Boston with the Championship Four race at 3:20 p.m. Freshman coxswain Johanna Greenberg will compete in her first event at Tennessee, guiding sophomores Mary Dreusike and Brittany Sehring, junior Kendra Warren and senior Genevieve Collins. This weekend marks the first time the Lady Vols have competed in the Championship Four race at the Head of the Charles Regatta.
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The event will wrap up with the Championship 8+ competition at 4:20 p.m. on Sunday. The race will feature over 35 shells including 2007 NCAA First Eights Champion Yale University and 2007 National Champion Brown University. Tennessee will look to sophomore coxswain Katie Ross???s boat of seniors Nina Dobratz, Krista Gearing, Mary Jones, Jessica Ayers and Renee Brittle, junior Kate Brownlee and Erin-Monique Shelton and freshman Libu??e Bruncv??kova??? to continue the squad???s yearly improvement in the event. The shell includes eight of the nine participants in last week???s Collegiate Eight gold medal-winning boat in Chattanooga and four members, in Shelton, Jones, Brownlee and Brittle, who competed in last year???s Championship 8+ race in Boston.
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The Head of the Charles Regatta is in its 43rd year and features events for both rowers and fans alike. The regatta includes 55 events and attracts teams and spectators from across the globe. Nearly 300,000 spectators arrive in Boston for the event weekend which includes concerts, a rowing and fitness expo, and Reunion Village, an area for fans and athletes to eat, buy merchandise, use the internet and check results.
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The course for the Head of the Charles begins at the Boston University Boathouse, just across the river from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The boats will then wind under five three-arch bridges past a music stage, Harvard???s Weld Boathouse, the Cambridge Boat Club and through to the finish line approximately three miles upstream.
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Although the Tennessee novice rowers will not travel to Boston, they will get their first experience in the Orange and White this weekend in Knoxville. The Head of the Tennessee Regatta, hosted by the Knoxville Rowing Club, takes place at Sequoyah Hills Park on Saturday.?? The Lady Vols will race four different shells in the 32nd edition of the event.
