Cavs end up in fifth

On Sunday in Sacramento, Calif., the Virginia women’s rowing team took fifth place in the NCAA Championships.

While it was UVa’s eighth top-five finish in the last 11 years, it clearly wasn’t what coach Kevin Sauer was shooting for.

“It was disappointing,” said Sauer, whose squad finished with 47 points, 20 behind Brown, the champion “What I told the kids and parents is it shows the standards that we have when fifth place in the country is really disappointing.

“We came in wanting to do better than that and we didn’t get there, but I told the kids that fifth in the country is still pretty damn good.”

Virginia, which took second in 1999, 2005 and then last year, finished behind Brown, Washington (59), California (53) and Yale (51).

UVa’s Varsity Four finished second, its Second Varsity Eight finished fourth and its Varsity Eight finished eighth.

“It was an unbelievably competitive regatta,” Sauer said.

In the Grand Final of the Varsity Four, Washington and UVa (coxswain Christine Candland, Diane Leigh, Allison Brennan, Nora Phillips and Schafer Bomstein) battled the entire 2,000 meters of the race, with the Huskies holding a slim advantage at the halfway mark. Virginia battled back to lead with 500 meters to go, but Washington finished strong to come away with the victory. UVa’s second-place time was 7:26.09, compared to UW’s 7:24.75.

Also competing in the Grand Final, UVa’s Second Varsity Eight (coxswain Mary Eddy, Amanda Chase, Lauren Shook, Helen Tompkins, Marie Long, Claudia Blandford, Annie Bohlen, Adrienne Egge and Victoria Burke) finished fourth with a time of 6:49.88. Brown was victorious in that race with a time of 6:42.42.

In the Varsity Eight, Virginia (coxswain Caitlin Mixter, Jennifer Cromwell, Rebecca Ryall, Lauren Hutchins, Kelsie Chaudoin, Desiree Burns, Augusta Stratos, Bridget Wandelt, Katrin Sydlik) was competing in the Petite Final (places 7-12) and had a strong showing with an eighth-place finish (6:38.52). Harvard was seventh with a time of 6:35.30.

Overall, Sauer said the experience, while disappointing, could prove beneficial down the road for his underclassmen.

“They look at it and say, ‘Hey, next year we’re going to be on that podium,’” Sauer said.