THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 19, 1995 TAG: 9503190165
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C9 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB HUTCHINSON, OUTDOORS EDITOR
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: Medium: 60 lines
For a while Saturday morning, it looked as if the weather would be the big winner in the fifth annual Crawford Bay Crew Classic, a collegiate rowing race.
But in late afternoon, after the wind had calmed and the rowers had raced, the big winner was Virginia, which took home the William P. Murray Cup.
The cup, named for a Portsmouth resident who was a national-champion rower in the 19th century, goes to the high-points winner.
After two picture-perfect days, a mid-March cold front raced across Hampton Roads on Friday night. By 10 a.m. Saturday, when the race was to have started, northerly winds were howling down the Southern Branch the Elizabeth River at 20 mph.
The first race finally went off a little after noon.
Virginia, which had been favored to win the 1994 Classic only to lose to George Washington by a fraction of a boat length, had more breathing room this time. The Cavaliers won three of the day's eight classes and finished second in three others, totaling 18 points. George Washington was second with 16 and North Carolina third with 14.
U.Va.'s victory in the season-opening match was almost a celebration for the school's rowing program. In July U.Va. will become the first Virginia school to have crew as a varsity sport.
The designation will affect only the women's team, coach Paul Kirby said.
``We're really thrilled,'' Kirby said. ``It's part of the gender-equity program, in which schools must have an equal number of men's and women's varsity sports.''
Crew is a club sport, financed by private funds, in most of the nation's colleges, including all other Virginia schools.
George Washington turned in the day's best performance, covering the 2,000-meter course in 6 minutes, 21.01 seconds in the men's heavyweight varsity class, winning the Kitterman Cup.
Virginia captured the Mayor's Cup by winning the women's varsity class and the Olde Towne Cup by winning the men's heavyweight novice.
George Washington took the Portside Cup by winning the women's novice, the Kitterman Cup by winning the men's heavyweight junior varsity, the Elizabeth River Cup by winning the women's lightweight novice and the Crawford Cup by taking the men's heavyweight varsity.
Richmond captured the Riverfront Cup with its win in the men's lightweight novice, while William and Mary won the women's lightweight novice to claim the Seawall Cup. Other competing schools included Old Dominion and George Mason.
Tim Kerr, race chairman, said the concern over Saturday morning's weather conditions became even more critical when the 11 a.m. forecast called for the breeze to increase to 30 mph.
``We couldn't have raced in that,'' he said. ``These boats are a little more than 60 feet long. But they're only about 2 feet wide and they only weigh around 300 pounds.
``They aren't any match for whitecaps, and we were starting to get a few here on the river. We were real fortunate that the wind didn't get up. In fact, it started to die out a little.'' by CNB