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USD Women's Rowing Make Their Mark on Boston
Oct. 25, 2005 This past weekend, Torero Women's Rowing made the trip to Boston for the 41st Head of the Charles Regatta. The Head of the Charles is the world's largest regatta, with more than 7,000 athletes competing and 300,000 spectators lining the shores of the Charles River separating Boston and Cambridge. USD's Women competed in the Club Eights event on Saturday October 23rd against both national and international competition, and finished an outstanding 7th out of 51 boats in their race. "I could not be more pleased with our results in Boston this past weekend," commented second-year Head Coach, Joan O'Hara. "The Head of the Charles is a huge, championship race, and for many east coast teams, the final race of their fall season. But for us, it was our first race! With more than 7,000 rowers on the Charles, this can be a rather nerve-racking experience for a season- opener. But our women handled the pressure, the hype, and the whole experience beautifully." Because it is early in the Torero season, Coach O'Hara gave the boat a stroke rating cap of 26 spm, where almost all the other boats were racing at a more competitive 30 or 32 spm. "We have been focusing on power per stroke and boat run over the past month, and I wanted to evaluate the team's ability to maximize these two factors at a low stroke rating. I knew how strong these women were and had complete confidence that they would make the most out of every single stroke. And indeed they did, placing 7th out of 51!" The Torero Varsity Eight consisted of mainly sophomores. "I have never experienced the level of poise and professional athleticism demonstrated by such an extremely young team," said Coach O'Hara. "These women have the confidence, hunger and maturity to take on anyone! I am just so completely impressed and so thrilled that these athletes - all walk-on novices with no experience last year - are off to such a strong start this season. They have very high standards for themselves and very big goals for this year, and I truly believe they will achieve them. We are all looking forward not only to the rest of the fall, but to WCCs and WIRAs in May!" The Torero Varsity line-up was Jacquelyn Harris (soph), Stroke; Christy Baker (Senior) 7; Allison Matthews (soph), 6; Christy Thurston (soph), 5; Chloe Wiegman (soph), 4; Cristina Valadez (soph), 3; Rachel Ourieff (soph), 2; Aubrey Klaich (soph), Bow; Jessi Cavanagh (Junior), Cox; Alicia Cresap (Senior), Alternate Coxswain. For complete results from the Head of the Charles, please visit www.HOCR.org. The Torero Rowers compete this weekend in the Row for the Cure on Mission Bay, fielding four Eights.
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