Rowing team meets goals in Chattanooga

The North Carolina women’s rowing team traveled to Chattanooga, Tenn., this weekend not only ready to compete, but also to honor the high expectations that have followed it throughout the preseason.

And on Saturday, the athletes did just that.

“We feel really good about the performance we put out with the varsity, second varsity and the two V4s,” said coach Sarah Haney. “We set specific goals, and we achieved them. It is hard to argue with that.”

UNC’s varsity eight took seventh, while the second varsity eight placed 21st in the Complete Championship 8 .

In the Complete Championship 4 , the varsity four A and four B boats finished ninth and 10th with times that were less than a second apart.

“We had boats that had the best race that we have had all fall,” Haney said. “We also had boats that were really close together and pushing each other.”

The Head of the Chattahoochee is one of the largest collegiate rowing regattas, boasting 28 and 31 boats respectively in the varsity eight and varsity four events. Haney said such a large pool is beneficial.

“The fall is a really good chance just to see where you are with other teams.” she said.

To be able to see where we were with that many schools was a great way to end the fall and see how we will kick-start our winter training.”

The goals the Tar Heels set going into the regatta — to find top 10 and 20 finishes for their different teams — are indicative of a change in expectations for the team this year.

“We really have come in with a whole new set of goals this year and much higher expectations than last year,” said senior Julie Peterson. “Everybody has done a really great job in trying to reach them, and so to see such good results was really rewarding and made everybody really excited for the spring.”

In addition to new goals, the team also has a new mindset, demonstrated Saturday.

“Going into this race, the amount of focus and determination we had was one of the most different things,” said senior Maria Santoyo, the captain of the team. “We have the same technique from year to year, but it is the heart and it’s the passion that’s different.”

And both of those were directly tested earlier this season. After a successful first race in the beginning of October, the Tar Heels’ next event was cancelled

As a result, Saturday’s event was only their second of the fall season.

“Unfortunately, one of our races was cancelled due to high water levels, so we didn’t have a ton of racing experience coming into this weekend,” Haney said. “So to not let that change our level of confidence and go ahead and really attack this weekend, I thought that was really huge.”

And the team hopes that success isn’t going anywhere.

“This was one of the best falls that we have had in the past few years,” Haney said. “So we are really excited to see how this culminates into a successful spring season. The team has done an incredible job with their work ethic and with their training and their mentality … we are really glad to see it pay off.”