UW Races for Conference Title at EARC
May 11, 2007 | Men's Rowing
The Wisconsin men's rowing team, who has been ranked eighth nationally since the start of the season, travels to Worcester, Mass., Sunday to compete for the conference title at the EARC Championships. In 2006, the men's varsity eight placed fifth on the 2000-meter, Lake Quinsigamond course, but looks to improve upon that finish this year.
Also known as the Eastern Sprints, the EARC Championships features 18 teams who make up the conference. Of those crews, 14 are ranked in the top-20 USRowing Poll, including No. 3 Harvard, No. 4 Yale, No. 6 Princeton and No. 7 Brown.
'The EARC Championships has been extant since 1946,' head coach Chris Clark said. 'Historically, it has been tough for us to do really well there, as the water does not get consistent until about now. Having said that, we have won 20 medals at the regatta in the last 9 seasons'I wish more were gold but that record isn't too bad. '
At the 2006 EARC Championships, the varsity eight finished fifth (5:49.31), while the second varsity eight placed third (6:31.049) and the third varsity eight won the title in a time of 6:19.01.
'This year's 1v is completely different than last year's first boat,' Clark said. 'With the loss of Andy Kauffman, our six-man and our captain, the scenario played out very differently than I would have expected in September. Instead of a big, tall, strong boat, what has emerges is a mid-sized, very light and quick boat. There is not a guy in the eight over 200 pounds. We average probably 184 pounds. At this level, that is very light.'
Racing in the varsity eight at the EARC Championships on Sunday is Scott Wallen, Derek Rasmussen, Grant James, Nate Millin, Ed Newman, Ross James, Joe McMullin and Matt Donoghue. The only question heading into the weekend is who the coxswain for the boat will be.
'Both Adam Barhamand and Chase Phillips would be anybody's top coxswain,' Clark said. 'Also, Dan Connolly, a sophomore, is coxing the 3v and is just as good as they are. For the first time in a long time, we have an embarrassment of riches in the coxing department.'
Recent EARC penultimate seedings place UW's varsity eight in fifth behind Harvard, Yale, Princeton and Brown, while the second and third varsity eight boats are both seeded third behind Brown and Yale, not in that order. The Badgers' freshmen eight boat is seeded ninth.
'One thing we consistently aim or is to beat our seeds for the regatta, ' Clark said. 'That measure, for every school entered, is one simple yardstick to help gauge how well the squad performed on the day. As far as the highest seeds in the 1v go, I believe there is a lot of parity this year. I am not so sure we are even close to the top eights, but to echo something Coach Alvarez once told the team '`I like some of our match ups'.'
Most recently, on May 5, UW took care of Dartmouth and M.I.T. to capture its 29th Cochrane Cup in 47 tries, including two straight cups and eight in the last 10 years. Wisconsin also won the second varsity eight and the novice eight races last Saturday on the Charles River in Boston.
On Sunday, May 6, the varsity eight won the Jablonic Cup for a second consecutive season with a victory over Boston University. The UW second varsity eight also defeated the Terriers to stay unbeaten on the season, while the novice eight 'officially ' fell to BU in a competition that was run four times due to various happenings.
For more information on Sunday's regatta, visit UWBADGERS.com to check out the weekly press release, or visit www.row2k.com/earc.
