Sooners Finish Strong at SIRAs

April 19, 2009

OAK RIDGE, Tenn. - The University of Oklahoma rowing teams finished strong at the SIRA Championships Sunday.

Oklahoma's varsity eight raced for the first time this weekend recording a fifth place finish in its heat and a second place finish in the consolation final, posting a time of seven minutes, eight seconds.

OU established position as one of the four leading crews in the first 1000 meters and in the third 500 meters Oklahoma pulled away from Tulsa to challenge Alabama for second place. The sprint in the final 250 meters was enough to overtake Alabama, but the Sooners came up short to SMU, who finished in 7:07.6.

"The varsity eight put together a great race in the final," OU head coach Leeanne Crain said. "We have a relatively young, inexperienced crew, so our strategy was to get out quick and try to create opportunities from the front of the pack. Everything played out according to plan except that SMU was just a little bit faster than us today."

The novice four of coxswain Kelsey Witten, Lindsay Hemingway, Heather McDonald, Brooke Sheppard and Caroline Brannin raced for the first time this season recording two victories and a second place finish in the Grand Final. Oklahoma posted a time of 8:09.3, behind first place finisher Tulsa (8:05.1).

The novice eight finished fourth in the Petite Final with a time of 7:45. Indiana finished first with a time of 7:17.4, followed by Purdue (7:27.6), West Virginia (7:37.9), Jacksonville (8:04) and Louisville (8.04.6).

Crain split squads this weekend, gaining valuable experience for OU's second teamers among the top-level competition.

"The novice boats performed very well," Crain said. "We raced our bottom half of the novice eight in the novice four this weekend and they went out and won a silver medal, which was quite an accomplishment. Our second novice eight raced up in the first novice eight event and also did well, despite catching a crab in the final."

The Sooners are back in action at the Big 12 Championships in Wyandotte, Kan., May 2.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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