Badgers Prepare for Double Dual
April 12, 2007 | Women's Rowing
The No. 18 Wisconsin openweight rowers will compete in a four-team double dual Saturday, April 14, on Lake Phalen in St. Paul, Minn. Wisconsin will compete against No. 10 Minnesota, No. 17 Oregon State and Drake. This is only the team's second competition of the spring and the first since they swept Indiana on March 24.
With uncooperative weather of late, the Badgers missed an opportunity to race last weekend in Indianapolis, and have been hard pressed to find open water to practice on. The women have yet to race on the NCAA length of 2,000 meters. The teams last competed nearly three weeks ago on a 1,500 meter course in Bloomington, Ind.
Racing begins Saturday at 9 a.m., with the Badgers seeing their first race of the day at 9:15 a.m. The morning session will see match-ups between Wisconsin and Oregon State on one end, while Minnesota and Iowa square in the second pair. In the afternoon, Wisconsin will face Big Ten rival Minnesota, while Iowa and Oregon State will race head to head. Drake will compete as a third boat in novice races. As long as the weather holds up, the racing should be done around 4 p.m.
The 10th-ranked Minnesota Gophers have been improving each year since they started the program in 2000, and finished second at last year's Big Ten Championships. This year, Minnesota has already beaten Iowa, Creighton, No. 15 Tennessee, Dartmouth and Boston University, while dropping varsity eight races to No. 4 Yale and Louisville.
The 17th-ranked Oregon State Beavers finished fifth in the varsity eight at the San Diego Crew Classic in their most recent action on April 1. Prior to the Classic, OSU defeated the University of Victoria in early March in its only other racing of the spring.
The Drake Bulldogs have raced just once this spring, facing Purdue and Marietta on March 24. Drake was supposed to race March 31 against Kansas and Tulsa, but weather cancelled the action.
Last week, the UW women were in Oak Ridge, Tenn. practicing on Melton Hill Lake, the site of this year's NCAA South/Central Regional as well as the 2007 NCAA Rowing Championships. After practicing over the spring break, the teams were scheduled to race at the Indiana Invite, but ended up coming home early after the event was cancelled due to snow and wind.
The Badgers return home Saturday, April 21 to compete in the Midwest Rowing Championships on Lake Wingra in Madison, Wis. Check out uwbadgers.com or mwrc.org for information on the regatta.
