Virginia Rowing Takes Home Another ACC Championship

Ignoring the 2009 season, when a certain Clemson team had a little more #tigerblood than normal (excuse the dated Sheenism, I couldn't resist), the Virginia Women's Rowing Team has won every ACC Championship in the events 12 season history.  This year was no different.

Sweeping all 4 races over the weekend, Virginia ran away with their 11th ACC title.  While I'd love to recount an exciting play by play of how UVa's victories came from last minute sprints through the field, the races weren't nearly that interesting. In fact, the overly pixelated live video feed often had to focus on the "barnburner" for 2nd or 3rd because UVa held open water over the field.  

Being considerate of the ACC-record crowd that day, the Varsity 8 wanted to add a little drama for the last race.  Like the other UVa crews, the Varsity 8 held a lead over the field throughout the race, but a strong Clemson crew stayed within striking distance eventually falling short of first place by 1.2 seconds, giving Virginia the sweep.

In addition to reclaiming the ACC title, UVa placed 5 athletes on the All-ACC team (Claudia Blanford, Christine Roper, Martha Kuzzy, Kristine O'Brien and Sidney Thorsten). And, to top it off, head coach Kevin Sauer earned his 7th ACC Coach of the Year Honor.

All in all a great weekend for UVa Rowing, taking home a lot of hardware. This week they return home to prepare for a huge race against No.1 Princeton, No. 19 Tennessee and Columbia on April 30th in Princeton, NJ.