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For the first time in more than a decade, Virginia's dominance at the ACC Rowing Championships was threatened, with the Cavaliers entering this year's event as underdogs, earning their lone No. 1 seed in the third varsity eight. UVA needed a spark heading into the event after going winless in back-to-back regattas — the Big Ten and Longhorn invites — and UVA head coach Kevin Sauer decided change was needed after the less than stellar performance in Texas. "We're switching everything up," Sauer said. "We're going to do some seat racing in fours, and we're going to figure some things out." The Cavaliers used that coaching and motivation, and more than figured things out, winning four races — the varsity eight, second varsity eight, third varsity eight and varsity four — to claim their 12th consecutive ACC rowing championship. UVA has now won 21 of the 22 ACC Championship regattas and 86 of the 95 championship races. "Every day I'm so proud of the character of this team, and today I am so proud of them as racers," Sauer said. "Syracuse and Duke were formidable opponents, and we are very fortunate to win this championship." UVA's third varsity eight delivered the start the team needed, de- feating runner-up Duke by more than five seconds. "I knew from there on out we were going to win," graduate stu- dent and co-captain Abbie Bird said. "There was no doubt in my mind that our team was going to come through and actually pull it off." Duke topped the Hoos in the second varsity four, but UVA edged the Blue Devils 7:10.892-7:12.901 in the varsity four. The Cavaliers' second varsity eight rallied past Syracuse 6:26.132-6:28.109, and UVA needed a first- or second-place finish in the varsity eight to claim the league championship. "If you're going to win ACCs, you may as well win the varsity eight," Bird said. And that's what happened, with UVA securing the team title by defeating runner-up Syracuse in a hotly contested varsity eight race 6:23.415-6:25.351. "It was one of those things where we were the underdog, and we were able to pull it off," Sauer said. "It's pretty sweet. I got pretty emotional afterwards talking to the team, because it was pretty awe- some what they did." "When we saw the finish of the varsity eight, it tied it all together on a perfect day," Bird added. UVA's varsity eight was named ACC Crew of the Year, and Sauer was named ACC Coach of the Year for the 14th time. Graduate student Sonja Schlosser, fourth-years Nicola Lawless and Alli Ter- blanche, and third-year coxswain ViVi Van Ingen were named first- team All-ACC, while third-year Leia Till earned a spot on the second team. "We stepped up big when it mattered the most, individually and as a team," fourth-year co-captain Liv Kimche said. "We are so proud of the grit this team shows every day and what we were able to do this weekend. Nothing has come easy for us this spring, and this vic- tory is exceptionally special." — Erich Bacher Virginia has now won 12 consecutive ACC rowing championships, and 21 of 22 overall. The Cavaliers went to place ninth at the NCAA Championships. (Photo courtesy UVA) cavalier sports behind the scenes Underdog Cavaliers Maintain ACC Rowing Dominance 10 CAVALIER CORNER