March 17, 2010

AUSTIN, Texas (SMU) - The SMU rowing team competed against Louisville Tuesday on Lady Bird Lake in Austin, Texas, racing five 1,000-yard pieces against the Cardinals.

"I was pleased with the work, as both crews are very close in speed. The goal is to extract the fastest line-up for the first varsity eight, and then the second varsity eight," head coach Doug Wright said.

"Several switches were made between each of the three crews, with some of the rotations occurring within a given crew. As a result of the rotations within the line-ups, the second varsity eight produced the fastest SMU time of the day in the last piece," Wright continued.

While Louisville's first varsity eight won all five races, the Mustangs finished second twice and third three times, with the SMU second varsity eight posting a 3:35.0, the Mustangs' fastest time of the day. SMU's first varsity eight's best time was a 3:35.1.

The Cardinals posted their fastest time in the first race of the day, crossing the line with a time of 3:27.5.

"This was a great opportunity for us to race against a top 25 team in the country. To be able to gauge our speed against a strong crew allows us the opportunity to learn more about what we need to do as a team. We have 8 weeks to get there before the C-USA Championships and the NCAA Qualifiers in Oak Ridge, TN," Wright concluded.

The Mustangs' next race is March 27-28 at the San Diego Crew Classic in San Diego, Calif.