May 30, 1998

LAKE LANIER, Ga. -- The Washington women's crew team positioned itself to defend its NCAA Rowing Championship by winning the two semifinal heats it raced Saturday at Georgia's Lake Lanier course. The Huskies won heats in the Varsity I and Fours competition to advance all three of its crews into Sunday's final. Washington's Varsity II team did not have to compete Saturday after automatically qualifying for the finals by finishing second in its heat on Friday.

Washington, Brown and Virginia were the only three schools from the eight teams eligible for the team championship to advance all three crews to Sunday's finals. Brown, which won its heats in the Varsity I and Fours on Saturday and defeated Washington in a head-to-head meeting in Friday's Varsity II heat race, figures to be the favorite going into Sunday's finals for the team championship, and to possibly sweep all three races.

"I look at the results and I think we are well positioned but I think Brown is the team to beat right now," said Husky coach Jan Harville. "We hope we can give them a good run for their money."

Brown is in the same position the Huskies found themselves in at last year's inaugural NCAA Championships. The Bears have never won an NCAA team championship. Last year's victory was Washington's first NCAA team title.

Saturday's races were delayed one hour to allow a storm front to clear the Gainesville area. After the setback Brown opened the competition by gradually pulling away from the field to win the first Varsity I semifinal race with a time of 6:22.4. Massachusetts (6:25.6) and Virgina (6:27.8) also qualified for the finals out of the heat.

In the other semifinal race, Washington had to come from behind to win for the first time this season. Northeastern, Michigan, Princeton and Washington all got off the start line quickly after an eight-minute delay to align the shells. Northeastern held a slight lead at 500 meters and built that to a full boat length midway through the race.

"I thought we had a really good start and were quick off the line," said Husky coxswain Missy Collins. "It was a little bit of a shock to see four boats cross even around 500 meters because we're not used to that. It seemed like everybody was out there like it was the finals today. I don't think Northeastern was even thinking it was a heat. It looked like they were about ready to fall out of the boat."

"At one point I noticed that I could not see Northeastern's coxswain out of my peripheral vision," said Bellevue senior Kari Green, who rows from the bow seat. "That was a new situation for us."

Washington sliced Northeastern's lead to just under a second with 500 meters to race and then poured it on as they neared the finish line, winning by a full boat length with a time of 6:18.9. An exhausted Northeastern team finished second at 6:22.1 and upstart Michigan (6:22.7) held off traditional powerhouse Princeton (6:25.3) for the final spot in the finals.

"We had a really, really good sprint," Collins said. "I think we all realized that we were down and so there was a lot of focus in the boat for those final 500 meters."

"When we crossed the finish line I was pretty excited," admitted Harville. "This is a crew that has moved well in the final 500 but they have not had to come back from being behind and really reel someone back in. It is one more experience that you hope benefits you."

Washington's win in the Fours competition avenged its loss to USC in Friday's qualifying heat. Like their varsity counterparts, the Fours trailed the first 1,500 meters and pulled ahead at the finish for their first win this year as a unit. The race marked only the third time the four rowers have competed together with coxswain Lara Tilmanis, who joined the group for the NCAAs after working with the Husky varsity crews during the regular season.

"We didn't really go in with any expectations," said freshman Fours stroke Nicole Borges. "We just went in to race as hard as we could. We haven't raced too many times together, so we still need to find out what we can do. Tomorrow is going to be a really hard. We're just going to go into it and try and be confident and see what happens. We want to have our best race."

Brown won the other Fours semifinal heat and will face the Huskies, USC, Virginia, North Carolina and Williams College in Sunday's championship race.

Washington's Varsity II team will be joined by the Brown, Virginia, Princeton, Michigan and Massachusetts in Sunday's finals.

The NCAA point system for the team championship is weighed heavily towards the Varsity I competition. First place is worth 48 points while the victor in the Varsity II race can score a maximum of 32 points and the winning boat in the Fours is worth 16 points. Last season the Huskies captured the team championship with 201 points while Princeton was second with 184 and Brown third at 170. The Huskies only first-place finish came in the Varsity I race. Washington placed second in both the Varsity II and Fours races.

"Every other race we've done has been taking steps towards this race and it's the last one of the season so it is a do-or-die situation," Green said about Sunday's championships. "You can't make up for mistakes, it has to be the perfect race of the season."

"All year they have been looking forward to right now," Harville said. "It's not really that they have been looking ahead, but they kind of see the whole season in one snapshot."

"I think it's going to be anybody's race," added Green, who was a member of last year's championship Varsity I team. "It's going to come down to who is willing to put more on the line."

Sunday's finals are scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. PT.

NCAA Women's Rowing Championships
Lake Lanier, Georgia

Varsity I

Heat 1: 1. Brown 6:22.4, 2. Massachusetts 6:25.6, 3. Virginia 6:27.8, 4. Dartmouth 6:32.7, 5. California 6:34.7, 6. Michigan State 6:37.1

Heat 2: 1. Washington (cox- Missy Collins, stroke-Sabina Telenska, 7-Denni Nessler, 6-Kelly Horton, 5-Katy Dunnet, 4- Annie Christie, 3- Rachel Dunnet, 2-Vanessa Tavalero, bow-Kari Green) 6:18.9, 2. Northeastern 6:22.1, 3. Michigan 6:22.7, 4. Princeton 6:25.3, 5. Harvard 6:26.6, 6. Georgetown 6:37.4

Varsity II

Repechage Heat 1: 1. Michigan 6:38.5, 2. Massachusetts 6:38.6, 3. Harvard 6:39.0, 4. Dartmouth 6:50.3

Fours

Heat 1: 1. Washington (cox: Lara Tilmanis, 4-Nicole Borges, 3-Nicole Rogers, 2-Adriana Geyser, bow-Noelle Anderson) 7:08.4, 2. USC 7:09.9, 3. Virginia 7:13.0, 4. Pennsylvania 7:15.2, 5. Harvard 7:20.2, 6. Princeton 7:22.3

Heat 2: 1. Brown 7:09.6, 2. North Carolina 7:11.4, 3. Williams 7:13.4, 4. Iowa 7:13.7, 5. Michigan 7:17.2, 6. Massachusetts 7:23.9