May 30, 2008

Rancho Cordova, Calif. - The Mercyhurst women's rowing varsity eight placed second in its preliminary heat at the NCAA Rowing Championships, hosted by the University of California, Berkeley. The Lakers will be forced to qualify for the finals by placing in the top two in the repechage heat Saturday.

Mercyhurst battled the UC San Diego Tritons through the 2000 meter course until falling just short over the final quarter of the race. The Lakers' time of 7:04.17 was less than two seconds shy of UC San Diego's 7:02.89 and easily outdistanced Nova Southeastern's 7:21.20. The Tritons automatically advance to the grand final Sunday with the win.

UC San Diego jumped out to an early lead but Mercyhurst was quicker through the middle half of the course and closed to almost even with 500 meters to go. The Tritons, though, were stronger down the stretch to get the victory.

Mercyhurst will compete against Nova Southeastern, Dowling and Philadelphia University in the repachage heat Saturday. The top two finishers in that heat will advance to the grand final, along with UC San Diego and Western Washington, the winner of the other preliminary heat. Mercyhurst boasts the fastest preliminary heat time of any of the four crews competing in the repachage.

The repachage heat will take place Saturday at 12:45 p.m. and the grand final will begin Sunday at 12:45 p.m.