Earning the top rank in the nation was not the culmination of the Virginia women's rowing team's season. It was just the beginning.
"I don't take much credence in that," coach Kevin Sauer said. "I'm more concerned with what we do at the end of the year than the middle of the year - way more concerned."
The Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association named the women No. 1 April 7, making the team the fifth Cavalier squad to reach the top spot this year. Regardless of how the ranking affects the team's mentality through the rest of the season, the honor speaks strongly to the team's progression throughout the season.
"From day one, we wanted to set a high standard for ourselves and just come into each race wanting to show the country that we are in the game," senior Summers Nelson said. "Last year, we really struggled early in the season, and it really wasn't until late in the season that we started picking up speed, so our goal this year was to really show some speed early and be able to build from there."
In her first year as part of the Varsity Eight lineup, Nelson has learned the boat races best when everyone feels "cool, calm and collect." The squad certainly has positioned itself as a tough competitor for the remainder of the season: Until last weekend, the Varsity Eight was undefeated and earned the title of ACC Rowing Crew of the Week two weeks in a row.
Virginia's top boat took the Jessop-Whittier Cup at the San Diego Crew Classic with victories against then-No. 9 Michigan and then-No. 10 Ohio State April 3, demonstrating the endurance Sauer hopes will increase as championship season approaches.
The Varsity Eight relinquished its undefeated record this past Saturday, however, when it raced against Princeton and Yale on Lake Carnegie in Princeton, N.J. Race times were moved because of strong winds, but Sauer made no excuses - his team simply could not row as fast as the Princeton Varsity Eight. Clocking a time of 6:27.4, sophomore coxswain Sidney Thorsten, senior Jennifer Cromwell, junior Katrin Reinert, senior Desiree Burns, senior Helen Tompkins, sophomore Martha Kuzzy, freshman Kristine O'Brien, senior Nora Phillips and Nelson lagged behind Princeton's 6:23.5 finish.
"That's why we schedule really tough teams all the time, so that we know where we stand," Sauer said. "It's good to race the caliber of teams that we do so that we find out during the season so we can make adjustments - to make changes that'll help us go faster later on."
Virginia's Varsity Four boat, meanwhile, finished strong at 7:34.4 to defeat Princeton (7:41.6) and Yale (7:47.2). The third Varsity Eight race also ended well for Virginia, which placed first with a time of 7:17.3.
The team will now turn its focus to the upcoming championship races.
During her last few weeks as a Virginia student and rower, Nelson is keeping track of team and personal goals and wants to continue to increase her speed so that she can be a "significant contributor" to the team as it readies for the ACC and NCAA championships.
"We're always striving to be NCAA Champions, but I feel like this year, in particular, we really feel that we have the potential to go all the way," Nelson said. "We've talked about it in the past, but Kevin has really not shied away from the fact that that is our goal and we're striving for the Championship everyday."
To go all the way, the Cavaliers will need to hone their skills if they are to compete with the best teams in the nation.
"We need to work on precision and being very precise in every stroke we take," Nelson said. "I think that's what Princeton really showed [on Saturday] was that they can go out there and race at a high rate and very precisely, and we lacked that."
Nelson said her team will remain "humble and hungry" as it heads to Clemson, S.C. this weekend for the ACC Championships.
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