May 30, 2010

GOLD RIVER, Calif. - The No. 16-ranked University of Tennessee women's rowing team capped a successful 2009-10 campaign with a 16th place finish at the 2010 NCAA Rowing Championships at the Sacramento State Aquatic Center on Sunday morning.

Though she would've liked to place a little higher, head coach Lisa Glenn was very pleased with the season as a whole.

"This year was really productive for us," Glenn said. "I thought our eights showed a good amount of consistency and there was a lot of steady, hard work put in by our upperclassmen. I felt like the freshman and sophomores stepped up as well. We had some good wins over the course of the season and put ourselves in position to get invited to the national championship."

Behind strong performances from all three boats, Virginia captured its first-ever national championship with 87 points. California took second, while a great outing from its V8+ boat propelled Princeton to a third-place finish.

The Lady Vols finished 4th in the C Final of the V4+, crossing the finish line 7:40.20. Ohio State captured the race in 7:25.17.

No. 2-ranked Princeton captured the Petite Final of the V4+, while top-ranked Virginia took home the Grand Final.

In the 2V8+, the Big Orange was victorious in the C Final, besting USC, UCLA and Clemson with a time of 6:41.50. Wisconsin took the Petite Final, while Brown took the victory in the Grand Final.

Tennessee closed out its season with a 4th place finish in the C Final of the Varsity 8+. Katie Ross coxed the top shell to a time of 6.43.21.

Michigan State brought home the Petite Final of the V8+ and in the final race of the day, Yale recorded a wire-to-wire win at the Grand Final of the V8+.

With the NCAA Championships officially concluded, the book is now closed on the 2009-10 Lady Vol rowing season. Tennessee was ranked among the top-20 teams in the nation all year long and took three victories from No. 17 Dartmouth on March 28.

The Lady Vols also posted an impressive fourth-place finish at the 2010 Lake Natoma Invitational, beating Big Ten and Central Region champions Wisconsin in the final event of the day, the V8+ final to secure a place in the top four.

Tennessee hosted the 2010 Aramark South/Central region sprints from May 15-16. The event turned out to be historic for the Orange and White. UT captured the inaugural Conference USA rowing championship, finishing seventh overall at the event.

That finish propelled the Orange and White to its seventh overall appearance at the NCAA Championships and fourth as a full team. After missing the NCAAs in 2009, Glenn said it felt good to be back.

"I'm really proud of the team for getting here and I felt like they handled it well this weekend," Glenn said. "We had a lot of young rowers here that gained a lot from the experience and they'll take that into next year.

"We wanted to be able to produce a little bit more in the Varsity 8+ but I thought that the rowers fought hard and raced hard. They put everything they had out there and I'm proud of them. I'm thrilled for the team as far as the accomplishments they made to get here."

UT will say goodbye to seven seniors: Mary Beth Dreusike, Jewell Ludwigsen, Laura Miller, Lindsay Nelson, Sydney Newman, Katie Ross and Kate Snider.

Fans are reminded to follow the Lady Vols on Twitter at www.twitter.com/UTLadyVols