After heading indoors following the UNC Dual in November, the Terps put in the first month of winter training, culminating in the December 6k test. The hard work the team had put in over the course of the fall showed up, with almost everyone on the squad posting year- and personal-best times. In addition, Mark Weninger (’13) and Peter Frechette (’10) set new freshmen and team 6,000m record times. Now, the team heads into the semester break shifting their training focus from the 6,000m to the 2,000m sprint testing distance, in preparation for the spring racing season. Congratulations to the our new record holders.
UMD's varsity 8 races against UNC in Chapel Hill, NC.
The Maryland Men traveled to Chapel Hill, NC to race the UNC Tarheels on their home water. With a short course of only approximately 1000m, the format for all fours races was a 2×1000m sprint from a start. Up first were the novice fours, where UMD put in some solid races but were bested by the strong UNC freshmen class. The second set of races were between the varsity fours, where the UMD B boat put in back-to-back impressive races, battling down the course against UNC’s crews.
After the fours returned to the dock, the Varsity and Freshmen 8s crews hit the water for the marquee races of the day. A third 1000m piece was also added for these races, putting up a big challenge for the fitness of each of the crews. The Maryland freshmen put in some solid races, beating UNC’s second freshmen 8 but losing to the Heel’s impressive top frosh 8, which had just come off a big second-place finish at the Head of the Hooch the weekend before.
In the main event - the varsity eights race - the first flight between the UMD 1V and the UNC 2V, saw a tough race throughout the course, wherein the UMD boat surrendered a slight lead at the halfway point to lose by inches at the final. After the close finish, the Maryland varsity struggled against the UNC 3V and 1V in the final two races.
The day was then capped off by a 500m dash race between all of the 8s. Seven boats lined up across, and UNC again came out on top.
The UNC-UMD dual race marked the end of the on-the-water season for 2009, with both teams heading indoors for winter training. Pictures from the race are available here.
The past two weeks have seen the new Maryland Crew Recruits for 2009 get their first few strokes in. After spending the previous week in the training barge learning the basics of the stroke, the team is now back in the 8s, focusing on the intricacies of matching and setting up the boat. This coming Friday will be the novices first erg test, a 4k, and two weeks later they will be in their first race.
If you are still interested in joining the team, its not too late! Please contact Head Coach Ted Matherly at ted.matherly@gmail.com for more information.
The Maryland Men had the team’s first record board installed in their erging facility in Cole Fieldhouse recently, and is already in need of an update. After last Friday’s March 2k test, a new record was set by Peter Frechette (’10), Derek Miller (’09) improved his record, and Sam Davies (’10) and Adam Gradski (’12) both worked their way onto the board. Gradski also took the freshmen 2k record. Nick Lituchy (’11) tied for 10th place overall, but will be back next year to work his way up. Congratulations to the new record holders.
