Badger Rowers Race at 30th Midwest Rowing Championships
April 27, 2002 | Men's Rowing
On a dreary Saturday, the Wisconsin rowing teams competed in the 30th Midwest Rowing Championships on Lake Wingra.
A cold morning with temperatures in the low to mid-40s, an overcast sky and 14-mile per hour headwinds made rowing difficult for everyone, but Wisconsin still won its 28th varsity eight race in the 30 years of the Midwest Rowing Championships in both the men's and women's openweight competitions. The No. 5 Badger men won the race in 6:12.00 over the Dayton varsity eight, who finished in 6:35.49. The Badger women's closest competitor was the No. 1 Wisconsin women's lightweight varsity eight. The openweights finished first in 7:02.93, while the lightweights were just over a length behind in 7:09.52. Drake finished the race third in 7:38.19.
In all, Wisconsin boats won 10 of 13 races held on the 1850-meter course. In addition to the varsity eight, the Badger openweights also won the second varsity eight, varsity four, novice eight and second novice eight. The UW beat second-place Minnesota in the varsity four, novice eight and second novice eight. Wisconsin defeated the Gophers in the same races last weekend, save the second novice eight, a race Minnesota won. This week, the Badgers raced to a 7:59.70 to Minnesota's 8:13.77 in the varsity four. The novice eight won 7:26.52 to 7:31.59. The UW second novice eight went 7:45.54 over the 1850-meter course to Minnesota's 8:13.99.
The Badger men took the varsity four, second varsity eight, novice eight and second novice eight races, as well as the aforementioned varsity eight race. The race of the day came in the men's varsity four with two Badger teams separated by two-hundreths of a second in a photo finish. Wisconsin A won in 6:39.62, while Wisconsin 's B boat was second in 6:39.64.
The Badger women's lightweight crew raced in the women 's novice four race, finishing third in 9:59.26 and fourth in 10:04.62. The lightweights were scheduled for final races in the novice eight and varsity four, but chose not to compete. Lightweight boats did race in the morning heat events in those events, qualifying for both finals.
The No. 1 Badger lightweights take next week off before competing in the Eastern Sprints on May 12 in Camden, N.J. The No. 5 men's team next races on May 4 and 5 at the Cochrane Cup versus Dartmouth in Hanover, N.H., and the Jablonic Cup against Boston University in Boston, respectively. Finally, the Wisconsin openweight crew returns to action next Saturday, May 4, at the Big Ten Championships in East Lansing, Mich.
