Saturday, June 6
Sacramento, Calif.
10:15 a.m. (PDT)
Columbia
vs
IRA National Championships
Heavyweights Unable to Sustain Fine Starts, Finish 5th and 6th in IRA Petite Finals
6/7/2009 1:00:00 AM | Heavyweight Rowing
SACRAMENTO, Calif. ? If only Saturday's heavyweight varsity and second varsity Petite Finals could have ended after the first 500 meters, Columbia would have boasted two fine performances. Unfortunately, the Lions couldn't sustain their efforts over the final 1500 meters, finishing fifth and sixth in season-ending efforts.
The varsity eight's race showed the most potential for success. Despite competing in a very strong field that included Wisconsin, Syracuse and Cornell, Columbia led after the first 500 meters, albeit by the barest of margins.
The Lions were timed in 1:27.44 over the Lake Natoma course, two hundredths of a second better than Cornell's 1:27.46, with Northeastern (1:28.04), Wisconsin (1:28.59) and Syracuse (1:28.82) all within two seconds of Columbia.
In the second 500, however, Wisconsin, Cornell and Northeastern all made moves for the lead. When Columbia tried to stay with them, the required power just wasn't there.
"We had a good effort early to put our bow in front in the first 500," head coach Mike Zimmer noted. Unfortunately, he said, "when Wisconsin went for the lead, we had no energy to stay with them."
Cornell also was able to overtake Columbia, but the Lions still had enough in the tank to hang with Northeastern and Syracuse. At the 1000-meter mark, Columbia was 1.3 seconds behind Cornell and .25 seconds behind Syracuse, while leading Northeastern by 4/10 of a second.
"We actually were level with Syracuse and Northeastern going into the third 500," the coach recalled, "but Syracuse made a nice move to go by us and overtake Cornell by the end of the race. We were still right with Northeastern until the final 700 meters, when they pulled away to a half-length lead."
Handicapped, as it had been the whole regatta, by Lake Natoma's powerful headwinds. Columbia finished fifth, three seconds behind Northeastern's Huskies. The Lions maintained their open-water margin over sixth-place Dartmouth, 6:07.55 to 6:12.55.
The second varsity eight, rowing about an hour earlier, appeared to have written the script for its varsity counterparts. The Lions got off to a solid start, and appeared able to sustain it. After 500 meters, Columbia was right there with the other crews, just two seconds separating second and fourth.
"They got off to a good start, and were right with the leaders after 500 meters," Zimmer said. "But we slowly dropped back."
By 1000 meters, Stanford, Syracuse and Cornell had all opened good-sized margins over the Lions, who had slipped to fifth, less than a second behind Penn and 1.5 seconds ahead of George Washington.
In the third 500, though, all five crews moved ahead of Columbia. The Lions finished sixth of six, 1.1 seconds behind fifth-place GW, but well behind Syracuse, which defeated Stanford by the width of its bow ball.
As Zimmer contemplated the conclusion of his teams' long season ? their first competition was the Head of the Charles last October ? he expressed disappointment both in not making the IRA Grand Finals and not winning the Petite Finals.
"The guys rowed really hard," he said, indicating the entire IRA Regatta, not just Saturday's competitions, "but we need more power to defeat surges like Wisconsin's."
The IRA's varsity heavyweight competition proved to have a definite West Coast slant; Washington narrowly won the national championship, with Cal second and Stanford third.
Columbia's heavyweight results:
IRA Men's National Championships
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Lake Natoma, Sacramento, Calif.
Varsity Eights
Petite Final
1. Wisconsin, 5:55.96
2. Syracuse, 5:59.30
3. Cornell, 6:02.76
4. Northeastern, 6:04.71
5. COLUMBIA, 6:07.55
6. Dartmouth, 6:12.55
Second Varsity Eights
Petite Final
1. Syracuse, 6:02.12
2. Stanford, 6:02.12
3. Cornell, 6:06.70
4. Penn, 6:08.11
5. George Washington, 6:13.98
6. COLUMBIA, 6:15.11
The varsity eight's race showed the most potential for success. Despite competing in a very strong field that included Wisconsin, Syracuse and Cornell, Columbia led after the first 500 meters, albeit by the barest of margins.
The Lions were timed in 1:27.44 over the Lake Natoma course, two hundredths of a second better than Cornell's 1:27.46, with Northeastern (1:28.04), Wisconsin (1:28.59) and Syracuse (1:28.82) all within two seconds of Columbia.
In the second 500, however, Wisconsin, Cornell and Northeastern all made moves for the lead. When Columbia tried to stay with them, the required power just wasn't there.
"We had a good effort early to put our bow in front in the first 500," head coach Mike Zimmer noted. Unfortunately, he said, "when Wisconsin went for the lead, we had no energy to stay with them."
Cornell also was able to overtake Columbia, but the Lions still had enough in the tank to hang with Northeastern and Syracuse. At the 1000-meter mark, Columbia was 1.3 seconds behind Cornell and .25 seconds behind Syracuse, while leading Northeastern by 4/10 of a second.
"We actually were level with Syracuse and Northeastern going into the third 500," the coach recalled, "but Syracuse made a nice move to go by us and overtake Cornell by the end of the race. We were still right with Northeastern until the final 700 meters, when they pulled away to a half-length lead."
Handicapped, as it had been the whole regatta, by Lake Natoma's powerful headwinds. Columbia finished fifth, three seconds behind Northeastern's Huskies. The Lions maintained their open-water margin over sixth-place Dartmouth, 6:07.55 to 6:12.55.
The second varsity eight, rowing about an hour earlier, appeared to have written the script for its varsity counterparts. The Lions got off to a solid start, and appeared able to sustain it. After 500 meters, Columbia was right there with the other crews, just two seconds separating second and fourth.
"They got off to a good start, and were right with the leaders after 500 meters," Zimmer said. "But we slowly dropped back."
By 1000 meters, Stanford, Syracuse and Cornell had all opened good-sized margins over the Lions, who had slipped to fifth, less than a second behind Penn and 1.5 seconds ahead of George Washington.
In the third 500, though, all five crews moved ahead of Columbia. The Lions finished sixth of six, 1.1 seconds behind fifth-place GW, but well behind Syracuse, which defeated Stanford by the width of its bow ball.
As Zimmer contemplated the conclusion of his teams' long season ? their first competition was the Head of the Charles last October ? he expressed disappointment both in not making the IRA Grand Finals and not winning the Petite Finals.
"The guys rowed really hard," he said, indicating the entire IRA Regatta, not just Saturday's competitions, "but we need more power to defeat surges like Wisconsin's."
The IRA's varsity heavyweight competition proved to have a definite West Coast slant; Washington narrowly won the national championship, with Cal second and Stanford third.
Columbia's heavyweight results:
IRA Men's National Championships
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Lake Natoma, Sacramento, Calif.
Varsity Eights
Petite Final
1. Wisconsin, 5:55.96
2. Syracuse, 5:59.30
3. Cornell, 6:02.76
4. Northeastern, 6:04.71
5. COLUMBIA, 6:07.55
6. Dartmouth, 6:12.55
Second Varsity Eights
Petite Final
1. Syracuse, 6:02.12
2. Stanford, 6:02.12
3. Cornell, 6:06.70
4. Penn, 6:08.11
5. George Washington, 6:13.98
6. COLUMBIA, 6:15.11
Feature: HWROW | 2019 Season Preview
Thursday, April 04
