Full Results

WEST WINDSOR, N.J. – The Boston University women’s rowing team wrapped up racing on Saturday at the 2006 NCAA Women’s Rowing Championship on Lake Mercer with a second-place finish in the Third Level Final for an overall 15th-place showing in collegiate rowing’s most prestigious regatta. It was the Terriers’ sixth overall NCAA appearance in the 10 years of its existence, and first since 2003.

Competing against Tennessee and Wisconsin in the Third Level Final, the Terriers fell behind off the start and were about six seats behind Tennessee for second place in the second 500 with Wisconsin in the lead. In the third 500, as Wisconsin dropped back and Tennessee took the lead, the BU boat made a large push at the 1,250-meter mark and took second place for good. Tennessee sprinted home to the victory in 6:38.0, with BU second in 6:42.7 and Wisconsin third in 6:43.5.

“I think that after they didn’t qualify for the semifinals, they were pretty down,” said BU Head Coach Holly Hatton of her varsity crew. “Especially when they hadn’t been in this situation before, it would have been easy to let this go. Instead, they really put everything into this last race.

“We put a new move in the race, a big push at 1,250 meters, which really put them back in the picture and really enabled them to beat Wisconsin,” continued Hatton. “At this level, you have to pay a high price to come back from a three-quarter length deficit and they again rowed with a lot of heart to make that happen.”

The varsity Terrier boat consisted of senior coxswain Cydney Nakama (Honolulu, Hawaii), junior stroke Meghan Neufeld (St. Catharine’s, Ont.), senior Amanda Milborne (Toronto, Ont.) in the seven seat, junior Lauren Priest (Tauranga, New Zealand) in the six seat, senior Tess Miller (St. Catharine’s, Ont.) in the five seat, sophomore Elene Brett-Evans (Toronto, Ont.) in the four seat, senior Emily Brown (Apopka, Fla.) in the three seat, sophomore Kaitlin Murphy (Belfast, Maine) in the two seat and sophomore bow Veronika Karlsson (SoKoster, Sweden).

“The seniors did a great job this season in making the team believe that we could compete at this level, and the sophomores and juniors from this varsity boat will be able to inspire next year’s team to make it this far again,” said Hatton. “I have an enormous amount of pride and respect for what the team accomplished.”

“When I was a freshman, the seniors made it to the NCAAs, and ever since, it’s been my goal to get here,” said outgoing senior Amanda Milborne. “I really achieved my rowing goal by coming here and it was a culmination of four years of hard work. This has been an exciting experience with the best boat I’ve rowed in during my four years here and I am excited for what will come for the team next year.”

The Terriers’ season included a 6-7 dual match record and ended with the team’s best finish at the Eastern Sprints in 13 years (fourth), along with BU’s first NCAA bid since 2003.

“We now have a winning mentality that we can bring back next year,” said sophomore Elene Brett-Evans, who will serve as a co-captain for the 2006-07 season. “Before this season, the NCAAs were always elusive to us. We just kept chasing that dream, and even though the season didn’t start off that well, we persevered. Hopefully we can bring the whole team back next year.”