Oct. 11, 2009
MADISON, Wis. -
The Wisconsin women’s rowing openweight and lightweight programs won four of five races entered, including all three varsity races, and captured the team points crown at the 2009 Head of the Rock Regatta on the Rock River in Rockford, Ill.
“It was a pretty nice day,” said head coach Bebe Bryans. “It turned out not quite as cold as we feared it would be. It turned out to be a nice day for rowing and I think we put up a pretty good performance overall. I think we won every race we entered, which is always a good thing.”
In the pair race, where the Badger openweight and lightweight programs combined to account for 15 of the 24 entries, the openweight pair of Vicki Opitz and Katie Hurtis crossed the finish line the fastest for the victory in 17:50.63. Boats raced over approximately three miles. The openweight pair of Kate Mansfield and Katy Haver finished in 17:59.53 for second, while openweights Briana Pittman and Bronwyn Knaebe clocked an 18:03.73 for third place. The UW lightweight pair of Sarah Padway and Kaela Erickson place fourth, while lightweight teammates Dani Dewitt and Taylor Fries took fifth place.
In the collegiate four, Wisconsin openweight boats took first, fifth and 14th. The crew of coxswain Molly Evjen, Vicki Opitz, Bronwyn Knaebe, Briana Pittman and Katie Hurtis timed 16:38.77 to claim victory. A Notre Dame boat took second, but then Wisconsin’s top lightweight entry of coxswain Terri Hong, Dani Dewitt, Taylor Fries, Kaela Erickson and Sarah Padway timed 16:58.95 to take third. UW's second lightweight four took fourth.
The collegiate eight crew of coxswain Sarah Obernauer, Vicky Opitz, Grace Latz, Briana Pittman, Bronwyn Knaebe, Meryl Chaffee, Kate Mansfield, Katy Haver and Katie Hurtis completed the varsity sweep with a victory. The boat went 15:17.78 for the course to win by over seven seconds over second-place Iowa. Wisconsin’s top lightweight boat was third in 15:25.88, just 1.05 seconds behind Iowa’s varsity openweight entry. The UW lightweight eight included coxswain Shelly Miller, Dani Dewitt, Kaela Erickson, Sarah Padway, Katie Fink, Mia Cava, Grace Lautman.
The novice openweight and lightweight crews saw their first competition of their careers at Wisconsin. Notre Dame won the collegiate novice eight, but UW boats took places two through five.
The UW lightweights also entered two boats in the collegiate novice four event and took the top two spots.
“I think both squads were really strong and it was a good first showing for the novices,” added Bryans. “Overall a good day, but we have a lot of work to do. We’ve got a little bit of time left this fall left to do it so we are going to try to gear up a little bit more and see if we can speed up that process just a little bit.”
Great first race for the novices. It was great to see the new crop of Badgers out there. That is exciting and we are all looking forward to watching them improve as the year goes along.”
Lightweight coach Erik Miller on the lightweight team's performance
“It was a brisk day, but the water was nice overall. It was nice to take the lightweight team out and see how they performed in the first full squad regatta of the season. I was definitely happy with the performance. We are closer to our own openweights than we have been in the past, so I think we are really getting the year off to a good start and I’m really impressed how the team rowed today.
"I was really impressed with the speed of the top eight and with the team overall. I think we are starting in a really good place. The team is very strong and quicker than we have been in years past, it seems to me, so I am expecting a good performance next week at the [Head of the] Charles."
Head of the Rock
Team Points (53 teams)
1. Wisconsin, 1,020; 2. Michigan Men, 851; 3. New Trier H.S., 613;
4. Notre Dame Club, 528; 5. Purdue, 466; 6. Lincoln Park R.C., 422;
7. Camp Randall R.C., 406
Open Pair (24 entries)
1. Vicki Opitz/Katie Hurtis, 17:50.63; 2. Kate Mansfield/Katy Haver, 17:59.53;
3. Briana Pittman/Bronwyn Knaebe, 18:03.73; 4. Sarah Padway/Kaela Erickson,
18:15.30; 5. Dani Dewitt/Taylor Fries, 18:16.90; 6. Meryl Chaffee/Grace Latz,
18:18.80; 7. Iowa, 18:26.79; 8. Hannah Drury/Rebekah Foelker, 18:29.65;
9. Kirsten Morelli/Vanessa Kleiss, 18:32.77; 10. Mia Cava/Grace Lautman,
18:36.95; 11. Sarah Bootsma/Ahna Olson, 18:38.58; 14. Adrienne Winfield/Kat
Fink, 18:49.84; 15. Anna Schettle/Hayley Leinss, 19:03.06; 16. Maggie
Yale/Lisa Godhardt, 19:03.74; 18. Kate Ludwig/Breanne Lynch, 19:16.65;
20. Gabby Waclawik/Ashley Van Vleet, 19:40.60
Collegiate Four (26 entries)
1. Wisconsin A, 16:38.77; 2. Notre Dame, 16:53.45; 3. Wisconsin Ltwt B,
16:58.95; 4. Wisconsin Ltwt D, 17:05.63; 5. Wisconsin C, 17:22.09;
14. Wisconsin E, 18:12.34; 15. Wisconsin Ltwt F, 18:16.78
Openweights
A - Coxswain Molly Evjen, Vicki Opitz, Bronwyn Knaebe, Briana Pittman,
Katie Hurtis
C - Coxswain Sarah Obernauer, Rachel Buchholtz, Vanessa Kleiss,
Paula Osterberger, Rebekah Foelker
E - Coxswain Beth Swanson, Alex Opitz, Kirsten Rhude, Caitlin Mueller,
Shannon Hoffman
Lightweights
B - Coxswain Terri Hong, Dani Dewitt, Taylor Fries, Kaela Erickson,
Sarah Padway
D - Coxswain Shelly Miller, Kat Fink, Kate Ludwig, Mia Cava, Grace Lautman
F – Coxswain Daniella Giustina, Elise Ganser, Erin Mullin, Molly Arthur,
Sarah Castillo
Collegiate Eight (23 entries)
1. Wisconsin A, 15:17.78; 2. Iowa, 15:24.83; 3. Wisconsin Ltwt B, 15:25.88;
4. Purdue, 15:41.53; 5. Notre Dame, 15:48.08; 6. Wisconsin C, 15:51.34;
8. Wisconsin E, 15:56.66; 10. Wisconsin D, 16:27.69
Openweights
A - Coxswain Sarah Obernauer, Vicky Opitz, Grace Latz, Briana Pittman,
Bronwyn Knaebe, Meryl Chaffee, Kate Mansfield, Katy Haver, Katie Hurtis
C - Coxswain Molly Evjen, Hannah Drury, Hayley Leinss, Sarah Bootsma,
Ahna Olson, Anna Schettle, Alex Opitz, Kirsten Morelli, Vanessa Kleiss
E - Coxswain Jane Roberts, Rachel Buchholtz, Rhude, Alex Opitz, Lisa Godhardt,
Maggie Yale, Shannon Hoffman, Caitlyn Mueller, Rachel Stern
Lightweights
B – Coxswain Shelly Miller, Dani Dewitt, Kaela Erickson, Sarah Padway,
Katie Fink, Mia Cava, Grace Lautman
D – Coxswain Terri Hong, Breanne Lynch Gabby Waclawik, Johanna Brady,
Kate Ludwig, Ashley Van Vleet, Molly Arthur, Erin Mullin, Elise Ganser
Collegiate Novice Eight (15 entries)
1. Notre Dame, 16:15.34; 2. Wisconsin Ltwt C, 16:15.94; 3. Wisconsin A,
16:37.67; 4. Wisconsin Ltwt D, 17:19.72; 5. Wisconsin B, 17:27.11;
Openweights
A - Coxswain Kendall Schmidt, Caroline Robbins, Danielle Kelly, Jackie
Koykkar, Alexandra Santaga, Julia Whittet, Mollie Kryka, Jennifer Marchuk,
Shannon Schlack
B – Coxswain Abigail Bitter, Kate Yeksigian, Rachel Kean, Lauren Pietila,
Hanna Lynch, Nora Boneham, Brenna Van Maren, Diane Ruzga, Amy Slesar
Lightweights
C – Coxswain Daniella Giustina, Abby Knight, Helen Beckner, Caroline Mansueti,
Constance Chucholowski, Gabrielle Read, Meredith Freshley, Jessica Lund,
Erin Wylie
D – Coxswain Samantha Hsieh, Rosie D’Orazio, Caroline Cahill, Emily Jayne,
Hillary Schmidt, Jessica Hill, Allison Gilmore, Anais Webster, Ashley Ryan
Collegiate Novice Four (10 entries)
1. Wisconsin A, 17:58.46; 2. Wisconsin B, 18:33.50; 3. Eastern Michigan, 19:10.06
UW Boatings: A – Coxswain Daniella Giustina, Abby Knight, Meredith Freshley,
Jessica Lund, Constance Chucholowski
B – Coxswain Samantha Hsieh, Helen Beckner, Gabrielle Read, Erin Wylie,
Caroline Mansueti
