Openweight Women Fifth at Big Ten Championships
May 03, 2003 | Women's Rowing
Wisconsin women's openweight's novice eight and second novice eight won races to lead the Badgers to fifth at the 2003 Big Ten Championships, Saturday at Griggs Reservoir on the Scioto River.
The Badgers earned 69 points, eight ahead of Minnesota for the fifth position. Michigan and Michigan State tied for the conference title, but the Wolverines won the tiebreaking varsity eight race to win their third Big Ten title in the four-year event. Ohio State, with 107 points, and Iowa, with 99, also finished ahead of Wisconsin.
'We had a good day,' said head coach Maren LaLiberty. 'Our novice team had excellent performances with open water finishes in both the second novice eight and first novice eight. This was followed by a second-place finish for our varsity team in the second varsity four. They were behind for much of the race, but then came on strong the last 500 meters to pass Ohio State for the second-place finish.'
The day started strong for the Badgers as both second-seeded novice boats grabbed titles in great rowing conditions that included temperatures in the 60s and a slight tailwind. In the second novice eight, Wisconsin ran its Big Ten streak to four with the victory. The boat won comfortably, with over seven seconds on second-place Ohio State. The Badgers earned seven points for the event win. The Badgers took 14 points with their novice eight win. Wisconsin upended top seed Michigan State, 6:49.7 to 6:54.4, in the grand final for the race title.
Wisconsin finished second behind Iowa in the unseeded second varsity four race to gain six more points towards its team total. The Hawkeyes stroked the 2000-meter course in 7:32.9, ahead of the Badgers' 7:35.1.
The varsity four also earned six points with a second-place result in the petite final and a sixth place overall. Michigan won the grand final, but it was Minnesota which knocked off the Badgers in the petite final.
The second varsity eight took the petite final for 18 points, besting Minnesota and Indiana in the process. Top-seed Michigan State took first place and the 42 points that went along.
LaLiberty said, 'In the petite final of the JV8, the UW boat had a much improved performance from the morning heat to beat Minnesota by more than 11 seconds.'
In the final race of the day, the varsity eight, Wisconsin took second in the petite final for a sixth-place finish and another 18 points.
'This was not result the boat was hoping for, they came away with improved boat cohesiveness and with a greater understanding of what they need to accomplish in the next two weeks in order to perform well at the Eastern Sprints regatta, ' added LaLiberty.
Michigan, trailing leader Michigan State by 18 points with one race left, won the varsity eight and tied the Spartans when MSU finished third in the race. The varsity eights serves as the tie-breaking race, however, sending the Wolverines home with the title.
Wisconsin takes a week off from competition before returning to the water for the Eastern Sprints on May 18. The Badgers will compete on the Cooper River in Camden, N.J., for the Eastern Association of Women's Colleges title at the event.
LaLiberty concluded, 'I think we had a good day. In two weeks we'll go to Eastern Sprints and we'll have tougher competition for our freshman and we hope to improve our performance on the varsity side.'
