April 19, 2010

Oak Ridge, Tenn. (SMU) - The SMU Mustang rowing team competed at the Southwest Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships Saturday and Sunday, April 17-18, posting solid times in several races.

"I'm pleased with all of our crews' significant improvement with regard to times," head coach Doug Wright said.

The Mustangs' first varsity eight finished fifth in its heat Saturday morning with a time of 7:01.45 to advance to the rep on Saturday afternoon. The Mustangs took third at 6:42.36 in the rep at to advance to the Petite final Sunday morning.

SMU's second varsity eight finished third in its heat with a time of 6:57.54, missing second place by just five seconds to Alabama. The varsity four placed fifth in its heat, with a finish time of 8:14.22.

In the Petite final Sunday morning, the first varsity eight placed second with a time of 7:02.90, missing out on the win by just three-tenths of a second. Kansas State took first with a time of 7:02.60.

The second varsity eight won its Petite final with a time of 7:28:80, a full 13 seconds ahead of second place Jacksonville. The varsity four placed second in the petite final at 8:44:46, as Tennessee took first with a time of 8:27:18.

"We have, in the past, shown much improvement in speed between the SIRA Regatta and the conference championship," Wright said. "I feel confident we can accomplish that again this year."

The Mustangs' next competition is scheduled for May 15-16, when they compete at the South/Central NCAA Regional Qualifier in Oak Ridge, Tenn.