The University of Minnesota rowing team started the first day of the 2007 NCAA Championships strong, picking up two second-place finishes in the First Varsity Eight and Second Varsity Eight, while the Golden Gophers’ Varsity Four finished fourth in their heat, today, on Melton Lake in Oak Ridge, Tenn.

The Gophers’ First Varsity Eight was the first Minnesota boat to compete at the NCAA Championships at 8:30 a.m. The Gophers drew No. 1 Southern California, California, Ohio State and Washington in their respective heat. Minnesota was in fifth-place by the first 500-meters of the 2,000 meter race. However, the Gophers made their move in the second, third and fourth 500 meters to finish in second. The Maroon and Gold were in fourth by the 1,000-meter mark and third by the 1,500 meter. The Gopher boat of coxswain Megan Flannery, Laura Jatautaite at stroke, team captain Cheryl Wick, Jennifer Barnes, Erika Bartkute, Vilma Stragyte, Sally Olson, Berit Tomten, and Jenna Buskohl held the fastest fourth-meter split of 1:39.06 to edge fifth-ranked Ohio State by nearly a second. The Gophers finished with a time of 6:39.56, just behind USC’s time of 6:39.00.

It was a great race and we competed in a tough heat this morning,” head coach Wendy Davis said. “We were slow coming out of the first 500, which is not uncommon for us and we weren’t necessarily panicking at that point. We had one of the fastest second 500 meters and then took third with less than 500 meters to go. It was really tight racing. I thought it was one of the tougher heats because Cal is the two-time defending champions, USC and Ohio State are both ranked high and in the past Washington has won three championships.”

Since the Gophers finished in the top three of their heat, they automatically advance to the semifinals, while Cal and Washington each raced in the repechage this afternoon. Advancing to the semifinals were Brown, Virginia, Harvard, Dartmouth, Notre Dame and Yale. The top three finishers in the semifinals will compete in the Grand Final on Sunday. Minnesota will face the Ivy League in Brown, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton and Yale at 8 a.m.

Minnesota’s Second Varsity Eight competed in the 10 a.m. heat against Brown, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Tennessee and Yale. After holding the second-slowest first 500 meter split time and overall fifth place, the Gophers held the fastest split time in the second 500 meters at 1:43.04 and jumped two spots to third. Minnesota gained control of second place by the 1,500-meter mark and closed in on leader Brown. The Gopher boat of Kaja Tally, Mary Ann Weinzierl, Christine O'Donnell, Maggie Armstrong, Catherine Casey, Ashlee Vilmo, Heidi Bechtel, Sarah Graham and Katie Johnson at the bow, finished second in a time of 6:50.97. Unlike the First Varsity Eight race, only the winner of each heat automatically advances to the Grand Final. The Gophers will compete in the II Eight the repechage tomorrow. If Minnesota finishes in the top two of its repechage, the Gophers advance to the Grand Final on Sunday. Competing in one-of-two repechage tomorrow is California, Washington, USC, Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Ohio State, Tennessee and Notre Dame. The Gophers will race in the 9:15 repechage with Notre Dame, Tennessee, USC and Washington.

The Gophers’ Varsity Four boat will also compete in tomorrow’s repechage after finishing fourth in their heat. After holding sixth place for the first 1,000 meters, the Gophers moved up to fifth at 1,500 meters, while improving another spot by the finish line. Minnesota’s boat of coxswain Erica Niemiec, Lauren VanProosdy, Rebecca Brzozowski, Rachel Hotkowski and Emily Baxter clocked a time of 2:03.19. Virginia, who cruised to a regional win in the event, won the heat in 1:59.43. Like Virginia, Brown automatically advanced to the Grand Final after winning its respective heat over Yale, Princeton, Cal, Notre Dame and Ohio State. Minnesota will compete at 8:45 a.m. against Ohio State, Notre Dame, Washington and Yale.

FIRST VARSITY EIGHT
Heat 3
1. USC, 6:39.00
2. Minnesota, 6:39.56
3. Ohio State, 6:40.18
4. California, 6:41.06
5. Washington, 6:47.50

SECOND VARSITY EIGHT
Heat 2
1. Brown, 6:47.47
2. Minnesota, 6:50.97
3. Yale, 6:53.71
4. Ohio State, 6:55.04
5. Tennessee, 6:55.29
6. Notre Dame, 7:12.02

VARSITY FOUR
Heat 1
1. Virginia, 7:34.48
2. Southern California, 7:43.75
3. Washington, 7:50.03
4. Minnesota, 7:53.51
5. Harvard, 7:54.24
6. Tennessee, 7:55.80