University of Virginia Men's Rowing Poised to Make Waves this Spring

UVA Men at the Head of the Charles (Photo credit: www.virginiarowing.org)

With all the indoor championships going on over the past few weeks, it might have been easy to miss the Mid-Atlantic Erg Sprints. However, here at RR we like to have our ear to the ground. While Greg Flood of Notre Dame was turning heads in Boston with a spectacular performance in the Men's Lightweight category, the UVA men's squad was busy taking names in Alexandria. Coach Frank Biller must be doing something right. Or maybe there's something in the water out there?

Clearly, the UVA men are on a mission: to battle down the proud (aka Michigan) at ACRAs this Spring. Their erg scores from the event show that the physiology is in place for what could be a serious upset. In addition to Matt Miller going 5:54.7 in the Open category (a result that would have earned him 3rd place overall at Crash-Bs), UVA has no less than four more varsity rowers under 6:20, and eleven rowers under 6:30 (two of whom are freshmen). Keep in mind that this event was held in late January. That is some serious horse-power for an ACRA team (hell, 5:54.7 is plenty of horse-power for any team), and our eyes will be fixed on UVA as the season progresses.

The ACRA final promises to be an interesting one this year, with strong performances last Fall from Michigan (as usual), Notre Dame, Bucknell, UVA, and Grand Valley State. Washington State performed remarkably well last season, and as they only graduated three athletes from last year's squad, we can expect them to compete at a high level. As of right now, those are the teams we'll be looking for in the Grand Final, with UVA and Michigan duking it out for the top spot.

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